Regeneration
by Hiiraeth
Summary: Rin has always known her life was dangerous, but she still thought she'd live past thirteen. In this world, she does. Rin struggles with a new identity, Kakashi finds unexpected reasons to live, and Minato chooses his family over everything. Far away, underground, a young boy wakes up with no idea of who he is… Canon-divergent AU. Jinchuuriki!Rin. Slowburn KakaRin.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

* * *

The explosion rocked through the clearing and sent water up in its wake, soaking the shinobi underneath through. Rin wiped at the slick bangs obscuring her vision. Kakashi's hand touched her elbow briefly, as if reassuring himself she was still at his back. His fingers felt cold and wet.

Nohara Rin was thirteen years old and about to die. She didn't have to be a genius to figure it out; the angry faces around them made it fairly obvious what they were planning to do to her and Kakashi. And even without them... She laid a hand over her belly, pressing down on the wet fabric.

As of two hours ago, Rin was a jinchuuriki. A human sacrifice, host to one of the most horrendous creatures in the world. No one had told her this, but she knew. Hazy memories of glowing marks around and on her body accompanied by pain more intense than she'd ever felt in her life pressed themselves to the forefront of her mind, along with the press of foreign chakra against her own, something ancient and eldritch, threatening to overwhelm her. She pushed these thoughts back.

She had different priorities.

If her suspicions were correct, Kirigakure meant to use her as a time bomb; the seal on her belly was set to break open the moment she reached Konoha. She'd tried to tell Kakashi, tried to convince him to kill her because she couldn't do it herself, but in all his obstinacy and misplaced nobility he had refused. She loved him for it, despite herself.

She threw a glimpse at him; his headband was missing and his silver hair was plastered to his face. He was frightened and not hiding it as well as he usually did; his eyes were wide and his breath shallow.

Kakashi, who for all his faults was Rin's best friend in the world, who had refused to kill her no matter the cost.

Which meant she had to do it herself, somehow. Her stomach churned and a wave of cold rushed through her. She'd always known her life was dangerous, but she always thought she'd live past thirteen.

Childish dreams of making it to jounin, becoming Konoha's head medic and maybe, just maybe, having a family someday, faded into nothingness. She would never do any of those things. She'd never see Minato-sensei's proud smile when she gets her promotion. She would never get her first kiss, or see how tall she might grow, or find out what she would look like in the future, or what Kakashi would be like as an adult; she would never get to _live_ because she would not survive today.

Her heart pounded in her chest. It felt like it was about to break through her ribcage and burst – she was almost surprised Kakashi couldn't hear it. She desperately wanted to live.

But she couldn't. Not if she wanted anyone she loved to be there at her side. She reached out behind her, catching Kakashi's fingers and squeezing them before letting go again. She would have to do it, and she knew quite suddenly that she'd rather die by Kakashi's hands than those of anyone else. She hated the idea of those Kiri nin getting their hands on her. She wouldn't let them.

She couldn't help but think of Obito, smiling faintly as he lay there dying. He'd been so incredibly, mind-blowingly brave. Rin needed to follow his example.

Her heart went out to Kakashi. He would be left behind, all alone once more. But he was strong too, and he would be brave, as he always was; he had to be. She didn't want to think about the alternative. Besides, he would have Minato-sensei.

And her father… Well. Her father would cope.

 _Today is the day I die._

One of the Hunter Nin screamed something and the others took it as a sign to attack. The two young Konoha ninja tensed; Rin felt Kakashi's chakra build up and grow to create _Chidori_ , and made her decision in a split-second.

She'd have to jump in front of him when he used it. She knew she didn't have the strength to do it herself, not with that strange seal over her heart.

She watched him rush towards one of the hunter ninja's, his right hand poised for chidori. Rin pushed chakra into her own feet and almost blacked out from the sudden back-lash the tailed beast gave her. Using her chakra made the bijuu's presence stand out like a bonfire in the night.

She rushed after Kakashi and thought, _please forgive me-_

As Sanbi's chakra threatened to overtake her and she caught sight of Kakashi's startled expression, she knew she'd made a mistake. There was no chidori crackling in Kakashi's hand, just an old and familiar three-pronged kunai.

A flash of yellow, then darkness.

xXx

 _Elsewhere_.

The dungeons were cool and dark, a welcome relief from the glaring sunlight outside. The figure dropped its dark cloak to the ground, revealing a strange inhuman face and a white, featureless body. The surface of its skin rippled like water, the outline of a hand pressing against the inside of its belly as if trying to escape.

"Madara-sama, it didn't work," the creature said, the voice rising up from somewhere in its mouthless face. "The girl got away."

A shrunken, bent figure seated at the root of the underground tree shifted slightly. "An inconvenience. You still have the boy?" Uchiha Madara croaked.

"Of course," the white creature said, and laid a hand on its belly.

"Good. He will still be of use. We will just need more time."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hello everyone! If you've read this far, I hope you enjoyed chapter 1 and are curious to see more.**

 **So, I'll briefly introduce my plans for the story here so you know what to expect from future chapters.**

 **\- Multidimensional, interesting and powerful female characters.**

 **\- Jinchuuriki!Rin.**

 **\- Worldbuilding.**

 **\- Slowburn KakaRin, as well as a number of canon pairings. I may ask you guys for input for future pairings. That said, I'm not going to write twelve-year-olds kissing. Because no.**

 **\- BAMF!Rin & Kakashi, lots of team Minato, and eventually a lot of Naruto.**

 **\- Character deaths. Yeah, sorry about that. On the upside, some characters who died in Canon end up surviving here.**

 **\- I have the first story arc completed and will update this one every few days to. I have ideas for further story arcs but whether or not I will write these will depend on my motivation and whether the first arc gets a nice response.**

 **If any or all of this sounds like your cup of tea, hit the subscribe button for more! I usually update fairly regularly. You can also follow me on Tumblr hii-raeth.**

Huge thanks keepyourpantsongohan and my real life bestie for shouting with me about this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _Two months later_.

* * *

Screaming. Her heels thudded against the ground as Minato-sensei's chakra roared the seal into life. Something kept her shackled to the floor tightly enough that she couldn't move her limbs. Worried voices somewhere far away, but no one came to see her – no one. There was only gray rock above her, interspersed with flashes of somewhere else, somewhere dank and eerily lit, filled with unearthly screams. The thing inside her was in pain, so much pain that her limbs shook with it. She was it and it was her, and for a moment all she felt was sheer panic because _prison jinchuuriki sealing prisoner again no no no_ – and then she was Rin again, wondering where Minato sensei was, where her dad was, where Kakashi was, and why they weren't helping her.

More voices echoed in the distance. More chakra, not just Minato's anymore, but also someone else's, big and warm. She couldn't sense Kakashi. She couldn't –

* * *

Rin stumbled onto the balcony, gasping. It was cool and dark outside, sunset still a few hours away. Rin leaned against the balustrade. Her head tipped forward, dark hair hiding her face. The nighttime air felt cold against her clammy skin. Another nightmare.

Her legs shook as adrenaline slowly faded from her system. She slid down to the ground, her back towards the view of the village. If there was anything she wanted back, anything at all, it was the ability to sleep as easily as before.

Before Obito, and before...

She hugged her arms around her chest. No. It was easier not to think of it. She didn't want to stir _him_.

Something moved in the house behind her and she looked up. Kakashi, his hair sticking in every other direction and his duvet draped around his shoulders like some bizarre parody of the Hokage's cape. He hadn't turned on any of the lights inside, but a nearby street post cast an orange glow over his hair and face. "Rin? Are you okay?"

His voice pitched strangely on the last word, as if it couldn't decide whether to settle for its formerly clear, high sound or the deeper, more gravelly one it was slowly settling into. Kakashi pulled a face and stopped in the doorway.

She smiled faintly. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

He sniffed. "This is your first week here, and as far as I can tell, you haven't slept a wink in all that time. You didn't sleep much in the hospital either."

She looked down again and plucked at her shirt. She only wore a sleeveless shirt and loose jogging pants to bed. The seals keeping Sanbi at bay curled from her back across her torso like a set of particularly intricate tattoos, around her upper arms and thighs, dark and ominous. She would claw them off if she could. She didn't like Kakashi looking at them.

Something moved, her vision turned dark, and then she was covered in a warm, soft duvet. It smelled of sleep and Kakashi. She dug her way back to the surface and found Kakashi looking at her with a disapproving expression, now sans duvet and dressed only in a shirt and loose pants.

And bizarrely, his mask.

"You'll get a cold," he said stubbornly.

That was Kakashi-speak for 'please go inside, I'm worried for your mental well-being'. Well, he wasn't wrong. Sighing, Rin got up and rearranged the duvet around her shoulders. If nothing else, it allowed her to cover up the seals. The worst of the anxiety had disappeared, now that she was properly awake, so there was no real point in staying outside.

She followed Kakashi into his small apartment, and sat down at the small kitchen table. It had originally only had one chair, but Kushina had brought over a glaring orange stool two days ago so they could both sit. She sank down on it and closed her eyes, weary with exhaustion.

It had been two months since Rin was turned into a jinchuuriki. Two months, since Kakashi infiltrated one of the most dangerous places on earth to rescue her. Two months since Minato-sensei painted her skin with blood and ink to seal her fate.

One month since her father looked at her like she was a monster, and said – no, _assumed_ – that the village would be looking out for her from now on.

What he had really meant, of course, was that jinchuuriki were kept under lock and key, away from the public. He didn't know the Hokage's beloved wife carried the most dangerous creature in existence with her. He didn't know, because otherwise he would call her a monster too.

Sanbi had gone quiet in the intervening month, at least. The current seals were stable.

Kakashi placed a green mug before her. A bright yellow duck smiled at her from its side.

"It was a gift from Gai," Kakashi grumbled.

Rin ducked her head to hide her smile. Inside the cup was something that was probably supposed to be hot chocolate, but it looked and smelled more like it hadn't done much melting and was, in fact, still solid chocolate. To be fair to Kakashi, he had never had hot chocolate prior to this week. She took a small sip. "Thank you."

Kakashi shrugged and sat down opposite her. His own cup steamed and smelled of green tea. "No problem."

"You don't have to get out of bed every time I have a nightmare," Rin said. "Or you won't get any sleep either."

"I don't need much," he said, and ducked his head so he could pull down the mask and have a sip of tea with minimal face exposure.

"I am grateful, really, I am," Rin continued, "also because you're letting me use your spare room, but –"

"But what? Where else would you go?" He said, bluntly.

Minato and Kushina had offered, of course, and Rin had been tempted – very tempted. But they were also newlyweds with a baby on the way. Another two months from now, they would have an infant to take care of. They would still try, because that's the kind of people they were, but it wouldn't be fair to them. Not even Minato-sensei could juggle a newborn baby, a brand-new jinchuuriki, and an entire village.

Kakashi didn't have to worry about two of those. And he wasn't scared of her even though, perhaps, he should be. He was strong, but he wasn't a demon.

She had also asked him to kill her. That, she could forgive herself for least of all. But he hadn't said anything about it. Not one word, in two months. No reproach, no anger. Nothing.

So she'd said yes, because even if it wasn't fair on him, she really didn't want to be alone.

The chocolate was actually quite good, so long as she remembered to chew.

"I have a mission tomorrow," he said, suddenly.

She looked up sharply. "What do you mean? You haven't had a mission in months."

"Sensei can't keep me grounded forever. I'm going tomorrow. I heard earlier this afternoon."

"You didn't tell me," she said. The nervousness was back.

"Because I knew you would worry," he said. "You have enough to worry about already. I'll be fine."

"Who are you going with?"

"Aburame Shibi."

Okay. Okay. Aburame Shibi was a strong and competent jounin. He could keep Kakashi safe. She nodded slowly. "How long?"

Kakashi winced. "Two days. Kushina says you can stay with them while I'm gone."

Two days. Just as she was starting to get used to his apartment and his company. She didn't want another upheaval, but – there was a sort of hopeful light in his eyes. He'd recovered from the fight with the Kiri Hunter nin a while ago. The only reason he had stayed in the village this long was because he'd wanted to help her. And now, he wanted to go out and fight again.

But she couldn't keep him locked up at her side.

She took a breath. "Okay."

His shoulders relaxed. "They'll take good care of you."

"I know." The nervousness didn't disappear. "Just…" Be careful, she wanted to say.

"I'll be fine," he repeated, and finished his tea. "Are you okay for now?"

She nodded. It wasn't completely true, but he nodded anyway and put his mug back into the kitchen.

"All right. I'll get some more sleep. Next time you have a nightmare, maybe wake me up right away. I don't mind," he shrugged.

She nodded again, even though she knew she wouldn't wake him up no matter how bad the nightmare was. Not on purpose, anyway.

* * *

Kushina was thoughtful enough to come and pick her up the next day, shortly after Kakashi had left. Rin hadn't gone anywhere on her own since becoming a jinchuuriki, and the thought filled her with anxiety. What if she were to – what if Sanbi –

Kushina understood. She was, perhaps, the only person who really did. "If you feel up to it, we could make a fun afternoon out of it," she was saying, her pale hands curled around her pregnant belly. At almost eight months of pregnancy, she was starting to look huge.

"What do you have in mind?" Rin asked, putting the last of her things in a bag and slinging it on her back. She had made sure to wear long sleeves and pants to cover up her seals. They still felt a little strange, but she would get used to them.

"We could… Bake a cake. Or go out in town –" Kushina caught Rin's look and grimaced. "Too soon?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I get it. But keep in mind… You can't avoid it forever. Anyway, Minato explained it to you, didn't he? Aside from the Council members and the clan heads, no one knows you're a jinchuuriki. We're keeping it under wraps, so people won't look at you funny."

"My dad knows," Rin said quietly. "And if my friends find out… Because they _could_ find out."

Kushina's thoughtful expression slowly pinched together into a frown. " _Some_ of your friends already know, and they don't care. There's no point in thinking about what might be. I know it's difficult, Rin-chan, but I need you to be strong." Her tone was firm, almost strict.

Shinobi are people who endure. Rin felt hot shame wash over her and nodded quickly." You're right, I'm sorry. Perhaps… Perhaps I can go out sometime next week."

Kushina grinned lightly. "That's more like it! Now, let's get going."

Despite her increased weight and girth, Kushina was still very much a force of nature as she marched through the bustling streets of the village. She seemed to know everyone and greeted them all as though they were her best friends, regardless of whether they actually smiled back. Not to mention the seemingly endless stream of old civilian ladies who stopped Kushina every other minute to coo at her pregnant belly and ask for the due date.

Did none of them know...?

It was a weekday, so civilians and shinobi alike crisscrossed through the streets going from market stall to market stall. This was the Konoha Rin liked best: colorful and bright, and so very full of life. It filled Rin with a brief, tentative joy.

"And anyway," Kushina whispered, "your seal is stable now, and you're not the kind of girl who just flies off the handle for no good reason. There's no reason anyone should find out at all."

Unless she ever wanted to fight again, Rin thought. She nodded anyway.

They had almost reached Minato and Kushina's cozy apartment in the center of the village, when a loud cry drew her attention. Rin's stomach plummeted.

Maito Gai was waving at her with great energy, grinning widely. Kurenai and Asuma were by his side, looking her way as well. Rin could see the exact moment Kurenai's eyes widened in recognition.

"Kushina-san, what did you tell my friends?" Rin whispered.

"You and Kakashi went on a long-term mission. A-rank. They were all quite impressed," Kushina winked.

Rin blinked. A long-term mission. Well. That was a much simpler explanation than she had expected. Effective, though. Or so she hoped, anyway.

Kurenai approached them with visible hesitation. The boys lingered behind, arguing about something or other. Boys. Always fighting about something. It was a nostalgic sight.

"Hey, Rin," Kurenai said, smiling. "It's good to see you. We didn't know your mission was going to be so long. I was worried," she said, a question in her bright eyes. And she had to be curious, with Rin disappearing for over a month and returning, dressed in all black with her hair pulled back tight. In retrospect, perhaps the wardrobe change had been a little dramatic.

Rin managed to smile for her friend. She had known Kurenai for as long as she could remember, and she didn't want to disappoint her now. "Don't worry, I'm fine. We just… Ran into something unexpected."

"Were you injured? Inoichi-sensei didn't tell us about _that,_ " Kurenai said.

"I –" Suddenly, Rin remembered something Minato-sensei had told her, Obito and Kakashi a long time ago. _If you have to lie, stick as close to the truth as you can._ "I was. But please don't worry – Kakashi and sensei got me home safe."

Kurenai's expression lightened. "I'm glad. It must've been a tough mission, for you to get injured. You're the medic, after all. We should celebrate you getting home safe soon! We could have a girl's night, or maybe get some cake…"

Kurenai's voice died down. Rin wasn't smiling, she realized. She couldn't really bring herself to. A girl's night. Cake. She couldn't think of many things that seemed less suitable, at this time. To be fair, none of those things had seemed particularly appealing since Obito.

Kushina nudged her side. "That sounds like so much fun, Kurenai-chan! I'm sure Rin would love to go. You'll have to excuse her, she's still very tired."

Rin forced herself to smile. "Sorry. I would love to, really."

Kurenai's expression cleared up again. "Great! We will decide on a date the next time we meet, okay? Or I could come over. You just get some rest."

Rin nodded gratefully, and then they finally went their own way again. She let out a long breath, and slowly forced herself to relax.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kushina asked quietly. "You did great. You're great, Rin-chan."

Together, they entered Minato and Kushina's apartment.

Kushina kicked off her boots and carefully settled down on the sofa, groaning. "Oh, being pregnant is the _worst_."

Rin walked into the attached kitchenette with the familiarity of one who had visited many times before, and set some water to boil for tea. Afterwards, she sat down on one of the sofas herself. "How old were you, when you became a jinchuuriki?" She asked.

"A little bit younger than you," Kushina said. "I had only been in the village for two years, but they trained me up to it."

"Do you mean they _chose_ you?"

Kushina smiled, but her voice sounded slightly bitter when she said, "My clan is supposed to be perfect jinchuuriki material. Lots of chakra, and we're supposed to be long-lived." She scoffed. "Lot of good that did us."

"I'm sorry." Rin wasn't sure what had happened in the Whirlpool village, but it had probably been horrible. It had upended Kushina's entire life, and then, when she had finally come to a safe place, they had turned her into a jinchuuriki.

Kushina shrugged. "Ehh. Thanks. I don't remember it much, but I often wonder…" She shook her head. "Like I said before, you shouldn't dwell on the past too much. What happens, happens. Even if it's horrible, so long as you're alive you have to keep on moving. You'll figure out how if you just give yourself time." She looked at Rin with knowing eyes.

"And anyway, I'm well on my way to repopulating the clan," Kushina finished jovially, patting her own belly with a self-satisfied air. "He'll have my surname, you know."

"Oh – that's a beautiful gesture!"

"Gesture, my ass! Minato isn't from a clan, and anyway, if anyone who meets this kid knows he's the Hokage's son right away, it could mean trouble. There's enough of us Uzumaki left that it shouldn't draw too much attention. Unless the kid decides to look just like his father, of course. In that case, there's no helping him."

Rin giggled. "That sounds like just the sort of thing a child of yours would do," she said.

Kushina sighed. "It does, doesn't it?"

They sat together for a little bit longer, sipping their tea. Kushina cast her looks a few times before she finally cracked.

"It ain't all bad, being like us," she blurted out. "I know it looks pretty bleak right now, and your circumstances aren't exactly the same as mine, but – we'll get through this together, Rin-chan. I will show you the way, just as Mito-sama showed me."

She grasped Rin's hand and squeezed it, and for the first time that day Rin's smile came easily.

* * *

The mission wouldn't last as long as scheduled, Kakashi thought, and wiped his blade clean on the dead Kiri nin's pants. Minato's intel had been entirely correct: a pair of Kiri shinobi had settled near the border of Fire Country, masquerading as a young civilian couple. It had been a good ruse, for a couple of weeks, but they had make the mistake of lingering for too long.

Aburame Shibi gave him an approving nod from where he was standing over the other enemy shinobi, her body still crawling with bugs. "Well-fought," he said.

Kakashi shrugged, then knelt down to start the process of concealing the corpses. ANBU would arrive soon, and dispose of them properly. "They were easy prey."

Aburame snorted. "Most of your age would not agree," he said.

"You would have found them in no time flat," Kakashi said.

"And yet you were the one who found them first."

Kakashi straightened his shoulders a little. "They were the only ones who were scared when we arrived," he said. "The civilians just saw a kid and a tall stranger."

Thanks only to their disguises, anyway. If the civilians had seen their headbands, they would have been just as scared. War brought fear everywhere.

"You can smell fear. Like the Inuzuka," Aburame said, more statement than question.

"Fear does things to the composition of people's sweat. I'm sure your bugs would know," Kakashi said.

Aburame nodded. "You make for a good tracker. Have you considered taking on a summoning contract?"

"I have dogs."

"Well chosen."

They packed up their things, the bodies now disguised under a thin genjutsu. ANBU wanted to include a forensic investigation of the apartment the couple had inhabited for the past few weeks and would arrive in a few minutes, if all went well.

All things considered, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder why ANBU hadn't taken care of the problem themselves in the first place. It did feel good to be out in the field again, away from the four walls of his apartment, but his mind was still burdened. Rin would be okay with Kushina and Minato, but would they wake up in time when she had nightmares? At least their hot chocolate might be better than his. Then again, the two of them lived on a diet of take-out and sheer force of personality – they might not serve anything but hot chocolate. Too much of a good thing...

To say he had been angry when he had heard Rin's father rejected her was an understatement. Apparently, the little squid of a man had come to her room in the hospital, had learned the truth of what happened from Rin herself, and had then left as quickly as his measly civilian legs could carry him. Apparently, he thought Konoha would 'take care of her' like they took care of all of their jinchuuriki, by storing her away for when she might be more convenient, like a human-shaped ninjutsu. Wouldn't it have been fun to tell the man that the world's most powerful bijuu usually resided barely a mile away from his picket fence house?

Aburame looked like he might know a few village secrets, though. He had worked with unusual speed and efficiency. It certainly hadn't been his first assassination job. Hardly unusual, for someone of his clan, except he had used an ANBU technique to seal away the body. He probably wasn't aware Kakashi had seen that technique used before, almost seven years ago. Aburame Shibi was former ANBU, and when Kakashi really thought about it, it made sense. What could be more subtle than a beetle, scurrying onto a windowsill and overhearing an important conversation?

"Shibi-taichou... Would you say I am suitable for ANBU?" Kakashi said, biting the bullet. He wasn't made for discretion; bluntness was part of his personality, so he had decided a long time ago that it was better to just go with what felt natural and be honest, rather than beating around the bush.

Aburame only looked startled for a moment. "I would say you have potential," he said, without trying to deny his own knowledge on the subject.

Kakashi swallowed. "Potential. What does that mean?"

Aburame's face was unreadable, but his shoulders shifted in a way that Kakashi recognized for Minato when he felt particularly tried by Kakashi's incessant questions. "I would say that you are extremely talented, certainly a prodigy, but that you are very young."

"I can't change my age," Kakashi said, annoyed. "How about my fighting ability?"

"I've only seen you fight once. You're certainly effective, but…"

"But what?"

"That eye of yours… You're not using it right."

Kakashi froze. It was true that using the Sharingan was difficult, to say the least. The kaleidoscope of color and possibility was dizzying to a brain not born to deal with the immense amount of information it gave him. He invariably ended up with a pounding headache and the undeniable feeling that someone had sucked out his chakra with a vacuum cleaner. But no one else was supposed to know about that. No one other than Minato-sensei and Rin, anyway. Aburame guessed it after observing a single fight. Which meant Kakashi had tells.

It seemed he hadn't been the only one keeping an eye on his mission partner.

"So, what?" He said, and hated how hesitant he sounded.

"I've seen real Uchiha use it. They move like liquid, lightning-fast. With you, the eye only seems to slow you down. That could get you killed. Especially if you don't acknowledge it," Aburame said.

Kakashi flinched. _Real_ Uchiha. He had heard that one before. "I can't turn into something I'm not," he said, looking away.

"Then why do you want to be ANBU so badly?"

Kakashi's head snapped back. "I could be ANBU, I could – I just need to be a little bit stronger, and then I can do it. So what if I'm not an Uchiha? I can improve in other ways, and compensate for what I can't learn. That's always been enough."

Aburame paused. For a moment, Kakashi feared he had gone too far; Aburame was still his commanding officer on this mission. Finally, the other man spoke again. "Being ANBU is not like being a jounin. It may seem easy to you now, after taking on a single mission like this one, but you would feel differently if you knew the truth. But if you want to be what you can't be, perhaps you should train with an Uchiha to learn how to use that eye."

He said it in a tired tone of voice, speech and sigh at the same time. Like Kakashi was just some other young, stupid upstart about to get himself killed. Well, he wasn't, but he couldn't change the impossible.

"They won't teach me. They hate me," Kakashi said.

"'They' do not all share the same voice. A clan is not a hive mind. I might know someone who will teach you. Don't say I didn't warn you, though," Aburame said, and pushed his glasses further up his nose, as though he hadn't just given Kakashi the most incredible news.

"Anyway, if you want to practice anything, try _subtlety_ ," Shibi finished, and raised a hand at the ANBU agents who had just appeared on the horizon.

The way back home was quiet and sullen. Aburame was not a talkative man, and neither was Kakashi. The disagreement hung heavy in the air between them. To make it worse, Kakashi was sure Rin wouldn't approve either, and neither would Minato. They were overprotective, as if he couldn't take care of himself. Hadn't he single-handedly infiltrated Kirigakure to save Rin?

Admittedly, that mission had had mixed success.

... Either way, he didn't want to join ANBU just to prove that he could. He wanted to join ANBU to aid Konoha in a real, substantial way, not as a cog in the machine but as a bigger, more important element, one who actually stood a chance of _changing_ something. One who stood a chance of _protecting_ something. Or someone. If he could do that… If he could become strong enough, and wise enough… That would be enough.

Kakashi kept his eyes on the horizon and thought about the future.

* * *

 **AN:  
Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought, and whether you have any predictions for how things are going to change.**

 **Timeline:**

 **The current month is August. Kakashi turns 14 in September. Rin turns 14 in November. Kurenai turned 15 in june, Asuma turns 15 in october. Minato and Kushina are 26, the Sannin are 37. Obito has been 'dead' for a year and a half. Minato has been Hokage for 6 months.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Kakashi and Rin settle into their new (old) digs, they both make a scary new acquaintance, and Minato plans for the future._

* * *

 **Chapter 3.**

* * *

Kakashi came home earlier than expected the next day, and promptly walked in on Minato and Kushina spending some quality time in the kitchen. Rin had still been asleep when the whole thing happened, so she had to hear about the incident while she was eating breakfast. Kakashi's outraged scowls and red ears had already clued her in. Minato-sensei was still trying to hide behind his own breakfast – which was a bit difficult, considering it consisted of a small bowl of rice and vegetables – with a face brighter than Kushina's hair. Kushina, at least, didn't seem particularly flustered, but did swat Kakashi over the head when he went on about it for too long.

The whole incident was refreshingly normal. Not the accidental voyeurism, obviously, but Kushina's loud voice arguing it 'really wasn't that weird', Minato's embarrassed but affectionate looks and Kakashi's world-class grimaces felt like coming home. It was like old times, when Obito used to pull stupid things just to get attention, and ended up instigating complete chaos in their small six-man group. Six-man family, she wanted to say. And they were her family now more than ever.

"So, did the mission go well?" Minato asked, his ears still a rather lovely shade of pink.

Kakashi shrugged. "It was fine. Not particularly challenging," he said. Of course, he was bored by anything that didn't include harrowing escapes and at least one bingo book encounter, so Rin didn't take it as commentary on how his mission had gone.

Minato, who had just taken a bite of his breakfast, stopped chewing. "What, not at all?"

"Not really. Aburame-san hardly needed me. It's _almost_ like he could have done it by himself" Kakashi gave Minato a pointed look.

 _Oh_ , Rin thought _. Oh sensei, of course he noticed._

Minato flushed again. "Well, I'm sure he would disagree."

"Sensei, I don't need you to coddle –"

"it's not coddling. I'm not coddling you. Am I coddling him, Kushina?"

Kushina lifted her hand and brought her thumb and index finger close together. "I wouldn't say you're _not_ coddling him."

"Kushina!" Minato squeaked, even as Kakashi said, " _Thank_ you."

Kushina shrugged. "That said, there's nothing wrong with coddling thirteen-year-olds who really shouldn't be so blasé about the whole high-ranking mission thing," she added nonchalantly.

"I'm not _nonchalant,_ I'm–"

"– Occasionally in need of being protected from yourself," Kushina said solemnly.

Minato-sensei was giving Kushina one of those love-struck I-adore-you-and-want-to-have-your-babies faces. He was good at those. Kakashi was doing an excellent impression of a fish on dry land, opening and closing his mouth as if he couldn't think of just how to protest this particular offense to his good name. Rin giggled. She couldn't help it.

Kakashi ended up settling for, "That's it. Breakfast is over. I should get going."

Which was not the most mature response, but Rin couldn't really blame him. One trauma a day was plenty.

Besides, she was kind of eager to get home herself again.

Staying with Minato and Kushina was enjoyable even under the current circumstances, but it was also draining. Kushina took taking care of someone a little bit too seriously, and had made it her mission to make Rin smile at every opportunity – no matter how much of a fool she had to make out of herself to achieve it – and Minato had been either completely absent or borderline smothering. He had been antsy all week, and Rin wasn't sure whether it was because of what had happened to her, the impending birth of his first child, or simply the strain of being Hokage, but it resulted in a Minato who was hasty, chaotic, and absent-minded. He was a far cry from the controlled, terrifying Yellow Flash his enemies knew. Even Kushina's best efforts didn't really help him slow down. Rin was secretly relieved the baby hadn't been born yet.

After breakfast, Rin packed her bags and got ready to leave. Kushina caught her in a massive hug. She briefly tried to resist but Kushina was soft and warm and smelled of honey, and also just so happened to be the best hugger Rin knew. Minato-sensei settled for a good old-fashioned hair ruffle.

Kakashi, in an uncharacteristic fit of chivalry, picked up Rin's heaviest bag and slung it over his shoulder. He was still wearing his mission outfit, flak vest and all, but he didn't seem bothered by the additional weight. He shrugged when he saw her look. "You're still recovering. This is more practical."

"It's only my chakra," Rin said, "I can still carry a bag."

He hesitated visibly. "Even so," he said lamely.

She gave him a bemused look. Two years ago, Kakashi carrying her bags and taking them to his apartment of all places would have been enough to send her into a excitement-induced fit idea (even though it was kind of dumb: chunin-level ninja strength, _hello_ ).

Now, while her crush was still undeniably and often times annoyingly present, it was tempered by experience. There simply wasn't an awful lot of space for a childhood crush in between the war, being turned into a jinchuuriki, and well, everything else.

Not that it would stop her stupid brain from trying to convince her it was a good idea. She was still only thirteen, after all.

At least living with him gave her a brand-new and probably healthy perspective. His apartment wasn't much to look at, for one thing. Housing laws stated that apartments in the shinobi blocks could only be rented by people who were either of chunin rank or over the age of fourteen. Upon being confronted by a seven-year-old chunin, however, they had quickly amended the law and told Kakashi to wait until he was at least ten years old. Knowing Kakashi, he had pressured his landlord into accepting him before the three-year deadline – with the help of some pointy, kunai-shaped friends – and moved in at age nine and a half, when he could no longer wait.

By which Rin really meant that he had taken his personality and somehow painted it all across the little apartment. It was filled to the brim with shinobi artifacts, training equipment and, in an effort to resemble something vaguely livable, a few secondhand, rundown pieces of furniture. The only thing Kakashi ever spent any real money on were his books, of which he now had enough to fill three separate bookcases dispersed around the tiny apartment.

Rin's favorite part, though, were the old, cartoonish dog posters decorating the bathroom wall. They seemed incredibly at odds with Kakashi's personality, but they had made her smile like crazy when she first discovered them. The thought of a younger, smaller Kakashi tacking them onto the wall had been enough to break through some of the worst of her anxiety at staying in his apartment. It was a reminder that he was just another kid, in the end – even if he had chosen to hang them in the bathroom, where he alone would usually see them. Kakashi had given her a bashful shrug and refused to say anything about it.

Once she had moved in, Kakashi and Minato had worked together to empty his small study/exercise room. There was still a lot of storage in the room, but now it also held her bed and a small desk pilfered from the chunin HQ by Kushina. The best part was the small bookcase, which held her shell collection and her books on maritime life (and her favorite book, which was admittedly about pirates and a magic seagull and the less said about that the better).

It was still a far cry from the pretty, light room she'd had back home, but it seemed somehow more fitting than sleeping in between pretty blue walls and large windows. For one thing, Minato-sensei had placed seals similar to the ones he'd used on the hospital room to reinforce the place. These seals weren't quite as powerful and he had insisted they weren't really necessary, but knowing they were there helped her sleep at night.

Well, _sleep._ It helped her nap, if nothing else.

In short, the small room felt a little like sanctuary. A place to be alone and think, a place where she couldn't hurt anyone.

She went into her room now, smiling at Kakashi as he dropped her things off, and sat cross legged on her bed. She took a deep breath and steeled herself, then closed her eyes.

She wasn't sure how to describe the Sanbi's cage. Was it part of her mind? Or some kind of physical manifestation of her chakra system? Or perhaps even another dimension attached to her being, like the summoning scrolls some weapon masters used? She didn't know. All Rin really knew was that if she closed her eyes and thought about Obito, she could go there.

It wasn't a good place to be, not by a long stretch, all drab green and teal and gray. And of course, in the center, there was the great cage that held _Sanbi_. He was little more than a dark shadow, skulking in a corner like a disobedient child. He hadn't moved around much since the last time she'd seen him, but he was noisier. The sounds he made were deep and guttural, like water boiling up inside a well. Perhaps he was starting to wake up.

The edges of her vision started to blur. "Not yet," she whispered, but it was to no avail. She clenched her fist and focused, but already the shape of her room in Kakashi's apartment started to re-materialize around her. The last thing she saw of Sanbi was a great, glowing green eye staring at her from the darkness.

Rin came up gasping, and knew she would have to take Kushina up on her offer of help soon.

* * *

Kakashi had a feeling Rin was hiding something from him. She'd been just fine when they walked back to his apartment, but then she'd gone into her room and reappeared some twenty minutes later looking pale and weary. She'd disappeared into the bathroom without a word.

The shower was still going.

Kakashi chewed his lip. Well. She clearly wanted to be alone. Perhaps it wasn't the best thing for her, but he understood the need for a solitary hour or two. He knocked on the bathroom door. "Rin? I'm going out for a bit. I'll leave Bull with you."

He heard a faint response, but that was enough. He hadn't used so much chakra on his mission that he couldn't still summon one of his dogs, so he went ahead and called up Bull. Bull was big and strong enough to take on just about anyone, and he also just so happened to be Rin's favorite of the pack. She would feel more comfortable with him there.

And yes, he was aware it was a bit hypocritical of him to accuse Rin of keeping secrets when, well, he was keeping this from her. But he would tell her eventually. He would. Definitely. Eventually.

After instructing Bull, Kakashi left the apartment and took a deep breath. He looked at the piece of paper Aburame Shibi had given him. It held a single name – an improbable name, if you asked him – but it was his best bet. If anyone would train him, Aburame thought it would be this particular person.

The route to the Uchiha compound was a familiar one, well-known from picking up Obito for missions back in the day. He felt a sharp _pang_ of something missing when he thought of Obito's small, cozy house, which he had shared with his old grandmother. She had died shortly after Obito had, her heart utterly broken, and a new family had moved into the place. They had painted the windowsills and doors over with sober colors and planted the family crest over the door. Somehow, seeing the empty house was worse than seeing Obito's empty grave.

Entering the compound had always felt uncomfortable, though, even before Obito's death. There was something about having all those Uchiha together in one place, dark eyed and brooding, that felt ominous somehow. Kakashi didn't like to admit it, but it was quite intimidating to enter an area filled with people who wouldn't care less if he stumbled and fell on his own sword. He had considered transforming himself so he wouldn't stand out as much, but the _sharingan_ would see right through that. So instead, he let them recognize him. Didn't have much of a choice, between the silver hair, the mask, and the hidden left eye.

And he hadn't exactly made friends amongst the Uchiha by taking Obito's eye on. Most of the Uchiha felt it was inappropriate for someone not of the clan to have one of their prized eyes. Others were convinced he had somehow coerced Obito into giving it to him. If not for Minato-sensei's protection, Kakashi wasn't sure he would have been allowed to keep it at all.

He looked at the name on the slip of paper again, and then walked up to the house the name belonged to with a sense of trepidation. There was no getting around it, though – there was only one Uchiha Mikoto in the village.

He knocked on the door. Of all the bloody Uchiha, of course Aburame would direct him to the wife of the clan-head herself. He vaguely remembered seeing her at Obito's funeral. She had been kind, at least, unlike her stone-faced husband.

The door opened slowly, and Kakashi had to readjust his gaze; on the other side of the door stood a boy of perhaps six. He had a serious little face with serious little eyes, framed by his family's trademark dark hair. "Hello?" He said, a little shyly.

If this was Mikoto's home, that meant this little boy was the Uchiha heir, Itachi. A prodigy, according to Minato. "Hi, Itachi-chan. Is your mother home?" Kakashi said, trying to sound as gentle as he could. It wasn't a particularly successful attempt as his voice came out more reluctant than kind, but he felt Minato at least would be happy that he had tried.

The little boy nodded and turned around in the doorway. "Mom? There's a visitor here." He turned back to meet Kakashi's eyes was a patient expression. "She's feeding the baby."

"No, no, it's fine," a woman's voice said, and then Uchiha Mikoto appeared in the doorway, holding a small baby. She was a beautiful woman with long, black hair and equally dark eyes. She recognized him instantly and smiled. The smile was more polite than pleased, perhaps, but it still seemed more genuine than he felt he deserved.

" Uchiha-san, I'm sorry for disturbing you," he said, and gave her a clumsy bow. "Your friend, Aburame Shibi-san, sent me."

The formality made him feel even more awkward than before. Manners were hard.

"Hatake-kun, isn't it?" She said, as if she didn't know already. She threw a look over her shoulder and pushed the baby up a little higher in her arms. "Of course. Shibi told me of your request."

"Ah. Uhh. Yeah. He already told you, huh?"

"There's been talk of one of us training you before, with the Hokage," she admitted, "but the timing didn't seem right."

 _No one wanted to take up the job_ , Kakashi heard. "Of course."

"That said, I'm willing to consider it," Mikoto said, surprising him.

He blinked at her. "Really?" He asked, all formality forgotten.

Her expression softened a little. "I won't lie to you, because I think you're clever enough to understand this; my husband doesn't like the idea much." Her baby gurgled and reached out with his little hands. She shushed him patiently. "But I remember Obito-kun. He was a kind boy. If he was willing to give you a chance, then so am I."

 _I didn't deserve the chance he gave me_ , Kakashi thought. "I will try to live up to his expectations," he said slowly.

"No," Mikoto stopped him, "try to live up to mine. I can only train you if you have enough aptitude with the eye. Come back here tomorrow and I will have a test prepared for you."

He blinked. "I will. Thank you. I..." Wasn't expecting this.

She nodded sharply, as if she had heard what he had meant to say. "Now if you'll excuse me, Sasuke is still hungry."

She closed the door before he could answer. For a moment, all he could do was stare at the wood dumbly. Then he blinked again and, still stunned into silence, turned around and left.

* * *

If someone asked Namikaze Minato whether he wanted to put the whole world on hold for a year or two, starting immediately, he would absolutely leap for the opportunity. As it was though, the best time-space ninjutsu could get him was a break from his personal ANBU guard for about half an hour. Which was honestly not enough, given that he usually spent those thirty minutes either checking up on his heavily pregnant wife or his troubled students.

It would be really great, he thought, dropping his head on the Hokage desk with a long sigh, if the baby could just wait a few more months until Minato had everything figured out.

Jiraiya-sensei hissed in sympathy. "That bad, huh? Makes me glad they never asked me to take up the hat," he said, leaning against the desk with his hip.

Minato glared up at him from underneath his bangs. "You're the one who just gave me Intel that Kiri is on the move again," he said. "We were getting so close to peace, I could feel it…"

"Iwa has been behaving itself lately," Jiraiya said. "Anyway, you know _why_ Kiri is stirring."

Minato lifted his head off the table and stared at his hands. "Their hunter nin were slaughtered and Konoha wasn't destroyed by a rampaging bijuu," he said.

Jiraiya lightly swatted his head. "Try sounding like you're actually happy about that, Minato-chan. Anyway, they won't be able to do much about it. They are hardly going to openly admit they lost one of their bijuu. Not with Kumogakure panting down their necks"

Minato hummed under his breath. "Our forces have been beating them back for months, now. They must have been desperate to try out this whole ploy with Rin."

"Extremely desperate, or reckless, if you ask me," Jiraiya snorted. "You gotta admire their guts. But why not just create a permanent jinchuuriki loyal to their own village?" He shook his head. "Madness, that's what it is."

"You know it's not as easy as that. Not everyone can become a successful jinchuuriki. Konoha brought Kushina in years before Mito-sama died, knowing that Kushina had the same chakra ability and aptitude. They were prepared. Perhaps Sanbi's previous jinchuuriki died unexpectedly. Come to think of it, we haven't had any reports regarding their Rokubi for a few years either," Minato said.

"Oh?" Jiraiya perked up.

Minato spread his hands. "The last reports of the Rokubi jinchuuriki go back a decade and a half and state he was in his fifties. They will likely want to replace him soon. Perhaps they already have." His lips thinned in disgust. Another child, around Kakashi and Rin's age perhaps, or even as young as his own unborn son, turned into a living weapon. Few jinchuuriki enjoyed the standards of living Kushina had in Konoha. "To think how they would treat Kushina, if she lived in their village. They would discard her the moment she was no longer useful to them."

Jiraiya grunted. "Technically, that's what happened to old Mito. She just got to pick a time and a place. Kushina's arrival meant her death." he said. "Anyway, most of Konoha doesn't know she's the jinchuuriki. I mean, you saw what happened with your student's father. Konoha people are as narrow-minded as they are anywhere else."

Minato wished he could contend Jiraiya's point, but he knew his old mentor was right. The discourse amongst those in the know seemed to be that Kushina was either a hero for keeping the kyuubi at bay, or a hybrid monster, half human and half demon. Even now, some of the older jounin (fewer every year, he thought darkly) who knew about Kushina's status tolerated her mostly for Minato's sake. Once his back was turned, they would pull up their noses at her. Kushina didn't open up about it as often as Minato would like and when she did, she downplayed the effect it had on her, but Minato knew it hurt her. No matter how good or kind or strong she was, to some people she would only ever be a monster.

Perhaps it was a mistake keep their status secret. Perhaps doing so only strengthened the idea that they were dangerous and inhuman.

And now one of his own students would be in the same boat.

As always, Jiraiya-sensei seemed to have the unerring ability to read Minato's mind. "The thing I'm wondering about… Not everyone can become a jinchuuriki successfully. The strain simply rips most apart. So how on earth is your little medic going to manage? She's got a triple seal where Kushina has a single one, just to keep her chakra system her own."

In all honesty, Minato had no idea. Rin was the daughter of a chunin of no remarkable ability who had been killed in action some ten years ago, and a civilian merchant whose chakra was less impressive than that of an Academy student.

But then Rin had always had unexpected depths. She was clever, studious, and disciplined. None of those things could protect her against the immense overload a bijuu's chakra would place on her system, but perhaps sheer willpower could do the trick where brains failed. That, and she had been quick to discover her affinity for more than one element – a good indicator of a flexible chakra system.

Minato smiled faintly. "If you had told me five years ago that the sweet little girl who prefers collecting shells to sparring would be able to withstand enemy genjutsu torture for hours, go through the trauma of losing her teammate and friend, perform an incredibly complicated organ transplant while her friend is dying, and come out the other end still able to report to me, I would have called you mad. Rin is stronger than she looks," he said.

Jiraiya watched him quietly, his dark eyes unreadable. Then he smiled. "Well, if you believe in her, I suppose I will as well. People aren't going to like it when they find out, though. And not just in Konoha, I mean everywhere. Konoha now has two bijuu. Which wouldn't be a problem if one of them wasn't Kyuubi. Even if Rin can never fight again, the power balance of the major shinobi villages is no longer even."

"I'm not sure it ever was," Minato said thoughtfully. "Either way, that's a concern for the future. Kiri won't know Rin survived unless we send her out and Sanbi breaks loose. And that's not going to happen, not on my watch."

Still, he couldn't deny that Rin didn't have the natural advantage Kushina had. Whatever happened, it wasn't going to be easy.

"You can't protect her forever," Jiraiya frowned. "She's still a shinobi, and one with a heck of a lot of potential to boot. She won't be content to sit back and do nothing while her friends fight."

Minato smiled. "Who said I'm going to have her sit back and relax?"

* * *

 **AN  
Comments are life and keep me writing. Please do let me know if you liked it! Make me a happy author.**

 **Who's got two thumbs and completely forgot to edit the layout of the previous two chapters? Yours truly.**

 **Thanks to keepyourpantsongohan for helping me work out some jinchuuriki politics! To be more specific, why on earth Kiri did what it did with the Sanbi. As for Kushina… I'm pretty sure most people didn't know who she was other than Minato's wife, or shit would have hit the fan a long time ago. I personally hc most high-ranking shinobi are in the know, but most other shinobi can only speculate and wonder. Which they do, of course. Rampantly.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

* * *

The next day started with a home invasion. Jiraiya and Kushina's loud and cheerful voices drifted in through the door of Rin's bedroom as she slowly blinked herself awake. Kakashi's voice followed immediately after, so indignant that it cracked and pitched. Rin's eyes widened. That couldn't be good. She pushed herself out of bed on wobbly legs and padded across the wooden floor to throw the door wide open.

Kakashi and Jiraiya briefly paused in their attempt to strangle each other when the door slammed against the wall. Minato-sensei, who was trying to separate them, gave her an apologetic smile.

Kushina grinned widely when she spotted Rin. "Good morning! Are you ready for the first day of the rest of your life?"

"Uhh," Rin said. She hadn't even thought of what she wanted for breakfast.

Kakashi finally managed to extricate himself from Jiraiya's grip and straightened his clothes. His hair puffed out in every direction. He hadn't even had the time to put his mask on, still dressed in his night clothes, so his angry pout was very visible. "What the hell are you guys doing here at five in the morning?" he said indignantly.

"Right. Fair question. What are the Hokage, second-coolest of the sannin and yours truly doing here?" Kushina said, puffing out her chest – or rather, her pregnant belly. "We're here to take you on a very special training trip, Rin-chan. Top secret!"

Kakashi's jaw looked like it was about to come loose. Rin tried not to smile too widely. Somewhere in the background, Jiraiya murmured, "only the _second-coolest_?"

"And you have to break into my house for this special training trip?" Kakashi asked. He had by now realized he wasn't wearing his mask and brought a hand up to his face to hide his growing blush.

Jiraiya grinned at him and tried to ruffle his hair. "Well, where else would we find you?" He started to say something else, undoubtedly aggravating, but Rin didn't hear it; Kushina had walked up to her bearing a small package.

"New clothes, for the training," Kushina said. "Go and put them on."

Rin opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Kushina had gotten her clothes so she didn't have to go out and buy them herself – and risk running into people again. She looked down. "Thank you," she said softly.

Minato smiled at her as well. "We're going to look after you, Rin-chan. And before you know it, you'll be back on your feet."

The clothes turned out to be a black _haori_ made of strong but flexible fabric. The wide sleeves went down to just below her elbows, and it was cinched at the waist with a thin black _obi_. The bottom hem was decorated with soft pink patterns. It was perfect.

Kushina had also gotten her a shirt with long, tight sleeves to go underneath the _haori_ , that would cover up her seals completely. Combined with shorts and the burgundy leggings she liked, no one would be able to see them.

Rin looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was a little thinner than she remembered and her hair had grown a bit too long for her liking. She pulled it back into a short ponytail again, allowing the bangs to frame her face. Finally, she grabbed her forehead protector and slowly tied it on. There. If nothing else, at least she looked like a shinobi again. Perhaps in time, she would feel like one too.

When she returned to the room Kakashi had also had the opportunity to get dressed properly, mask and all, although his hair still stuck up at strange angles as if it reflected his bad mood. He was sitting about as far away from Jiraiya as possible and glared at the man's back as the sannin rummaged through his book collection with thoughtful hums.

Kakashi looked up when he heard Rin. He blinked. "You're wearing your forehead protector again," he stated.

Rin nodded. She clenched her fists. "I have to try, don't I? I have to do my best."

Something lightened in Kakashi's dark eyes. Relief, perhaps. He nodded back. "Yeah."

"You look beautiful, Rin-chan," Kushina cooed. "I know it seems a little counterintuitive to get new clothes for a training session, but this won't be the kind of training you're used to. Anyway, this fabric is of Hyuuga-make – they make their clothes sturdy, since they're close combat experts."

Rin swallowed. Whatever this training was going to be like, given that it apparently required Kushina, Jiraiya of the _Sannin_ , and Minato-sensei himself, it probably wasn't going to be easy. She glanced at Kakashi and thought, _you would make a much better jinchuuriki_ _than me_.

She banished the thought as soon as she had it. She was glad he wasn't the jinchuuriki. She was glad he didn't know what it felt like to have foreign, _foul_ chakra invade his system. He had Obito to bear, good, kind Obito. She would do her best to bear Sanbi.

She would try, anyway.

"Thank you," she told Kushina.

"You might feel differently once we get started," Jiraiya said. "Are you ready, Minato?"

Minato-sensei smiled softly. "If Rin is."

Rin bit her lip, but nodded. She could see approval in Kakashi's eyes.

"All right," Minato said, and walked to the center of the small living room. He picked a tagged _kunai_ out of his pocket and placed it between his teeth before holding his hands out, palms up. Kushina took one of his hands and smiled at Rin.

"I'll see you kids on the other side," Jiraiya said. "After I've picked up our _equipment_." He grinned.

Minato nodded and glanced at Rin. "Come on, then."

Rin walked up to him and took Minato and Kushina's hands. She looked over her shoulder at Kakashi.

"Good luck," he said.

Before Rin could do or say anything else, Minato-sensei's chakra started to grow and grow and grow – before it pulled the three of them out of the universe and away from Kakashi and his apartment.

They reappeared with a gasp and a whizz into a large, badly-lit room.

Kushina squeezed her eyes tightly shut, one hand pressed against her abdomen. "Hmm, it feels so much worse when you're pregnant."

"Ah! Kushina –" Minato-sensei cradled her belly between his hands. "Are you okay? Did I go too quickly?" He asked, worried.

"I'm fine, just give me a moment," Kushina laughed, squeezing his hands. "You big old worrywart."

Minato-sensei pulled a face. "I don't want to hurt you or the baby by accident."

Kushina snorted. "You wouldn't hurt a fly."

Rin repressed a smile. The Yellow Flash could, and most certainly had, hurt flies. That, and legions of enemy shinobi. She left the couple to their bickering and observed the room around her. It was huge and windowless, lit only by torches and a larger fire burning at the center of the room. Old seals crisscrossed the stone floor, leading towards a large altar next to the main fireplace. Up above, the room seemed to go on forever.

"What is this place?" Rin asked softly, in awe.

Kushina's hands settled on her shoulders. "This is the place where Mito-sama passed the old furball on to me. And… Where she died."

Rin looked up at her. Kushina's eyes looked old and sad. "It's also where she taught me everything I know. Or almost everything, anyway."

"This Mito-sama... Do you mean Uzumaki Mito?"

"Yes. She was the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki before me. She was incredibly powerful," Kushina said.

"This place is a safe house," Minato-sensei added. "The first Hokage himself created this place together with Mito-sama. They were married, you see." He gave Kushina a soft look.

Rin smiled. "I didn't know that." She could just about imagine it – the first Hokage, dashing and handsome, and beautiful red-haired Mito by his side. Not so very different from the current state of affairs.

"Well, there were always those rumors about Shodaime and Uchiha Madara," Kushina snickered.

" _Rumors_ ," Minato-sensei said, sounding amused. "I'm sure Mito-sama wouldn't appreciate such talk."

"Oh no, she thought it was hilarious," Kushina grinned. She squeezed Rin's shoulders and steered her towards the altar. "Hop on up."

Rin obediently sat on the altar. "So… Is this place safer for me to be?"

"If you ever lose control, yeah," Kushina said. "It's not perfect by any means, but it would keep Sanbi contained long enough that I can do the rest."

"You?" Rin blinked.

"Both of us," Minato-sensei added. "But Kushina has a special technique that gives her more control. It's why she was chosen to be jinchuuriki."

"What kind of technique?"

"Sheesh, I'd think you were Kakashi, asking so many questions. You'll find out, probably," Kushina tapped Rin on the nose. Her expression grew more serious. "I'm not going to lie, this isn't going to be easy. We need to find out what your limits are."

"We'll build it up slowly," Minato-sensei added quickly. "Start with the basics, make our way up from there."

Rin looked down at her knees. She couldn't see the seals with these new clothes, but it was almost as if she could still feel them, itching. If she could get even a little bit of control… "Where do we start?"

Kushina and Minato smiled at her. Minato-sensei held up a leaf. "Where everyone starts: at the beginning."

* * *

Holding a leaf to her forehead with chakra was, fortunately, every bit as easy as it had been in the Academy. By the time Rin had been holding it for thirty minutes, the worst of her nerves had ebbed away. Screw scary, this part of the training was downright boring.

Jiraiya was the one to break through the monotony. "I'm back! And I brought what you asked for," he said, dropping down from the shadows.

" _What?_ Who, I should hope," a cold voice said, and another man dropped out of the shadows behind Jiraiya. Rin blinked. He was an Uchiha, one of the ones who had always looked at Obito with such disapproving eyes. He was a bit older than Minato and Kushina, with sleek dark hair and a lined face that was tanned from the sun.

"Rin-chan, this is Uchiha Fugaku. He has kindly agreed to help us," Minato said, locking eyes with the other man. There was a strange tension between them, and for a moment Fugaku said nothing, only staring Minato down with those dark eyes of his. Then he finally nodded in acknowledgment.

Minato-sensei relaxed. "Fugaku-san, this is Nohara Rin, my student."

Fugaku's eyes fell on her. Even without the Sharingan, they were unnerving. "The new jinchuuriki," he said. "It was wise of you to involve me in this, Minato."

Not Hokage-sama, or my lord, but Minato. Even though they weren't exactly friends. Rin frowned. Nobody else would dare to do that. Nobody else would want to. It was disrespectful.

Minato-sensei gave him a curt nod. "So long as you stick to our agreement," he replied, his own voice equally cold.

"Of course." Fugaku folded his arms over his chest and stood back, apparently just to watch.

Minato-sensei turned back to meet her eyes. "Fugaku-san is here to observe your chakra while you practice. I've asked Jiraiya sensei to join us as well because he is a seals expert, just in case. You don't have to pay either of them any attention, just do your best."

That was a little bit easier said than done. She was only a chunin, and hardly up to their standards. She knew Kushina and Minato wouldn't judge, but what about Fugaku? He was the head of one of the largest and most powerful clans in the village. His standards had to be toweringly high.

"So… What do we do next?" She asked carefully.

As it turned out, 'next' meant more basic chakra exercises like scaling a wall and using basic ninjutsu such as the transformation technique. Her chakra felt strange and wobbly, but she managed to complete all the tasks they set her. Next came water walking, which wasn't as hard as it should've been, and then…

"I would like to see you perform some basic elemental ninjutsu," Fugaku said. "What is your chakra nature?"

Nature, not natures. He was assuming she only had the one, like some genin straight out of the Academy. Kushina visibly bristled at the question, but Rin kept her back straight. "Water and fire."

If Fugaku was surprised, he didn't show it. "Show me fire, then."

Rin's heart leapt. Of course he would ask for fire. To an Uchiha, fire was prestige. Fire was power. Obito had struggled endlessly to master his clan's main element, nevermind that he had more affinity with air. She swallowed. At least Obito had showed her how to do it, before his death.

She closed her eyes in concentration and weaved the correct hand seals for a simple fire technique. It was a much smaller version of the great fireball jutsu, quick and flashy enough to do damage in close combat – or to startle faster opponents rushing at the seemingly defenseless medic. It should have come out burning hot and bright, but instead there was only a short, sharp flash and an enormous angry roar. Rin folded in upon herself as the sound echoed throughout the room, seemingly endless.

"Rin? Rin-chan, you're okay – look at me, you're okay –" Minato-sensei was saying, pulling her hands away from her ears. "What's wrong?"

They hadn't heard it. Not one of them. Jiraiya and Fugaku merely gave her bemused looks, Kushina and Minato worried ones.

The roar faded. Rin straightened out slowly. "I don't think he likes fire," she said, and knew it to be true. Her heart was hammering in her chest.

"Did he speak to you?" Kushina asked slowly.

Rin shook her head. "He only screams."

Fugaku grimaced, his now red eyes filled with disgust. "The demon pulled on her chakra the moment she started to convert it to fire. It actively stopped her from using it effectively."

"Do you think we can continue?" Jiraiya asked.

"It's not pulling on her chakra any longer. I don't see why not," Fugaku said.

"Why not? Because Rin is a young girl who needs a break every now and then," Kushina bit back.

"She is a _soldier_ ," Fugaku sneered.

"Oh, please, just because you don't have a heart –"

"Please – I can continue. Please don't argue," Rin said. "I... I want to get this over with."

It was quiet for a moment as the adults looked at her, with unsure expressions.

"No one knows your body better than you do," Minato said gently. "Let us know when you can't go on. We won't do much more today, I don't want you to exhaust yourself."

Rin nodded, a little bit impatiently – she'd had an idea. "I want to try a water technique. I think… I think he likes water."

"Is that possible? Can they prefer certain elements?" Jiraiya asked Kushina.

Kushina shifted uneasily. "I don't know. I think so. Kyuubi prefers fire."

"There have always been rumors," Minato added.

"I think… I think, maybe, he can tell me what he likes and what he doesn't like," Rin said, slowly. "Because… He's awake now. Or slumbering, anyway, but more awake than he used to be."

"That makes sense. Kyuubi wakes up sometimes too," Kushina confirmed. "The seal allows for it."

Minato sighed. "Okay then, water it is. Fugaku-san, are you ready?"

Fugaku nodded, his eyes already blazing. Minato-sensei stepped forward and performed a complicated series of hand seals across one of the symbols on the floor. It lit up and a square space inside the floor slid away, revealing water underneath.

Rin's expertise lay in medical ninjutsu and setting traps, but just as she had learned a basic fire technique she had learned a basic water technique to defend herself. Water was her primary affinity and had come to her before fire had. It had always felt more like…

 _Home_ , something, or someone, whispered.

Shivers ran down Rin's spine. She steeled herself and wove another set of hand seals. They seemed to flow together automatically, as if she performed them daily. Her chakra came easily this time, as if it was being pushed forward by a steady wave, slowly rising.

Moving the water was as easy as breathing. It flowed into the air in a tight spiral, turning and twisting as if it was alive, with far more power than she had intended, before slowly evaporating into mist. Rin's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't sure she had ever seen a jutsu quite as beautiful before.

As the technique broke and the water vapor fell down around them, hissing as it hit the torches, Rin let out a long breath. "He definitely likes water," she said faintly.

* * *

At least with Rin off on her mysterious training exercise, Kakashi didn't have to come up with an excuse to go and train with Mikoto. He took his time to pick out his equipment – shuriken and wire, Uchiha-style – and left the house. At least he didn't have to go straight to the Uchiha compound, this time. Mikoto told him to meet her at the twenty-fifth training ground, which he could get to easily enough if he went through the merchants's district. It was one of the smaller training grounds, rarely used by higher-level shinobi. Which made it much easier to pull rank on the little genin practicing there at the moment.

Well, _little_. They weren't much younger than him, and not particularly inclined to take him at his word. One of the older ones, roughly his own age, even stuck his tongue out at Kakashi and said, "there's no way you're a jounin, you little squirt. I bet you couldn't even hit me if you tried."

Kakashi's eyebrow ticked.

About thirty seconds later, he was brushing dust off of his clothes and taking just a little bit too much enjoyment in watching the genin carry their buddy with the bleeding nose off. He sniffed. Maybe that had been a bit much…

"I was hoping you might set a better example for my sons," Mikoto said from across the clearing, wearing a disapproving expression. She handed her baby over to her oldest son, who took the boy carefully and padded over to the edge of the clearing, where he sat down against a tree.

"Why did you bring them?" Kakashi asked, puzzled.

Mikoto twitched a little. "I couldn't find a sitter."

Kakashi sincerely doubted there wasn't a single person in her extensive family who couldn't look after two young children for an hour or two. He frowned. "Right. What about your husband?" Kakashi asked, following a hunch.

"He has business of his own to take care of," Mikoto said curtly. She had exchanged yesterday's shapeless dress for a pair of simple, sensible pants and a dark top bearing the Uchiha crest between her shoulders. A standard shuriken pouch was strapped around her hips. "They won't distract you. Itachi is a sweet child, and Sasuke doesn't cry much. It's easier this way."

How convenient that she should have timed practice with the 'Sharingan thief' at the same time her husband was away. And that there were no babysitters to be found who could tell him she had left. Kakashi smirked. He had a feeling Kushina would like this woman.

"Where do we start?" He asked.

"We start with you showing me your eye."

Well, that was a given. Kakashi pushed up his headband and tightened it a little at the back so it wouldn't fall down.

Mikoto's eyes narrowed and then softened. She reached out unexpectedly and brushed his cheekbone with the pad of her thumb. "You lost your own eye first, didn't you? And at such a young age." She didn't sound curt or cold anymore. She sounded sad.

Kakashi instinctively turned his face away from her touch.

"And this was a year ago?"

A year since Obito died. "Yes," he said.

She sighed. "Sometimes I think Konoha... Well, nevermind what I think. Please open your eye, I want to look at it."

He did. Mikoto lit up in bright colors as he saw her chakra flowing through her body. He saw it center at her belly before flowing upwards towards her eyes and she activated her Sharingan. With his right eye, he saw three tomoe around each of her pupils. A fully realized Sharingan, like his own now was.

"Three tomoe," Mikoto said, as if she could read his mind. "Did you always have three?"

"It started out with two. Is it supposed to evolve like this?"

"Yes. It usually happens during battle, when someone is under great emotional or physical strain," she said, glancing at his good eye as if to try and see his response.

It had happened protecting Rin just after he had gotten her out of Kirigakure. The world had sharpened and slowed down. He had seen even the subtlest shift of muscle, read every hand sign – and blocked the experienced hunter nin's attack with ease.

It had made him think, not for the first time, just how much promise Obito had really had.

Mikoto looked at his eye a little bit longer and nodded. "It doesn't seem inflamed and you're not squinting against the light. That's good. That means we can start our next exercise."

She looked over at her children and nodded at the eldest. Itachi nodded back and hopped up into the nearest tree, still holding his baby brother.

"The rules are simple: one, you are only allowed to dodge, not fight back. Two, we do not go anywhere near the boys. Three, you call out every technique I perform. We continue until I tell you to stop," Mikoto said, suddenly every inch the commanding officer.

Kakashi blinked and was about to protest – no counterattacks? Really? – when she jabbed her fingers straight at his Sharingan. He threw himself back into a clumsy somersault to dodge the attack, and kicked out at her with his legs. She leapt back as well, fingers suddenly full of Shuriken. They whisked past him lightning quick as he tracked their paths with his eye, dodging from left to right to avoid them. Next came a flurry of fire, quick, bright bursts he recognized as the Phoenix flame technique, quicker and deadlier than its great fireball counterpart.

"Katon jutsu!" He called out.

As it turned out, it was a real pain in the neck to only be allowed to dodge attacks when assaulted by a well-trained Uchiha jounin. Her taijutsu was a little rusty, but she more than made up for it with her rapid movement and ninjutsu.

She was sneaky too, layering multiple attacks together just to catch him off guard. There was no time to think or pause about strategy. So long as he could just stay on his feet…

"Doton ninjutsu! Shuriken-wire technique!"

The world tinged purple suddenly, and Mikoto blurred and disappeared – as if she had used a body flicker technique. But – no, she hadn't, she –

"Genjutsu!"

He whirled around and caught the shuriken aimed at his back between his index and middle fingers. He couldn't smell poison on it, so he sliced the blade across his thumb, thereby dispelling the genjutsu that had discolored the world. She hadn't said anything about not breaking out of illusions.

Mikoto reappeared before him, her eyes slightly widened. "Well done," she said. "We can take a break now."

Kakashi waited, still panting, and tried to ascertain whether it wasn't a ruse. After a moment, he dropped the shuriken. "I can keep going."

"You're out of breath and not using your chakra effectively," Mikoto countered. "Look at me. How much of my chakra is flowing towards my eyes?"

Kakashi blinked. The criticism left a nasty taste in his mouth. He hadn't even use his own _jutsu_ yet, but already she could see flaws. "I don't know. Not a lot."

"Be more precise. What do you see?"

Oh, to train under Minato sensei again and receive only gentle reproaches.

"Your eyes are genetically a part of you. It doesn't take you anywhere near as much effort to use them as it does me, because it's not constantly draining your chakra. Your eyes are only using what you're giving them. Mine just keeps taking." Kakashi closed his left eye and tried to hide his disappointment. He wouldn't be able to compensate for a lack of genetic aptitude. He wasn't an Uchiha, and as far as he knew none of his ancestors were either. Obito's eye was a foreign entity to his body in every possible way. It was a miracle his body hadn't rejected it outright.

Mikoto nodded, confirming his suspicion. "Your eye takes chakra even when you have it closed because you can't deactivate it. Your eye is in a constant state of high alert – just as it was when you first received it. I suppose you could say it's still in the factory settings, and you don't have the tools to change them."

Mikoto sighed and started picking up her shuriken. "On the upside, your brain seems to be capable of processing the information the Sharingan gives you, even though you weren't born to process that much sensory input. That's… Remarkable, if nothing else."

Kakashi frowned. "Are you saying you thought it would overwhelm me?"

"It overwhelms even some of our own, and they were born to cope with so much sensory input," Mikoto said dryly. "For someone like you who doesn't have a bloodline limit at all to cope with it so well is startling."

Her husband probably wouldn't like it, Kakashi thought, and fought not to smile. Still, it would probably be better to tell her the truth. "My sense of smell is roughly the equivalent of an Inuzuka's. So… Dealing with lots of sensory input is already built in," he said, tapping the side of his head. Well, in theory anyway. Vision and olfactory senses weren't exactly the same to a brain.

She blinked in surprise. "So you do have a bloodline limit?"

"More of a genetic advantage than a bloodline limit," he said.

"And the combination of smell and Sharingan together still doesn't overwhelm you?" If Kakashi didn't know any better, he'd say Mikoto was starting to look intrigued.

"I'm a quick thinker," was all he said.

"Well. Perhaps there is some hope for you after all, then. But I won't lie – if you start dishing out your own jutsu while using the Sharingan, you're going to run out of chakra at a much quicker rate than whoever you're fighting," Mikoto frowned. "The first step is for you to work on your stamina. If you can increase your chakra reserves, it'll help. We also need to figure out a way to get your body more in tune with the eye. Leave that part to me. For now, I'm going to give you a scroll that holds a couple of exercises we give to our children when they first unlock their Sharingan. Practice. Work hard. Don't slack off."

She pulled a small, simple scroll from her pouch and handed it to him. "You will only be able to read it with your Sharingan, so don't overdo it."

More practice, huh? It figured that Obito's last gift to him was not something he could master with talent alone. He would need to work hard, just as Obito had. Karmic justice, or something. Well, he was good at working. He didn't exactly have any hobbies.

Itachi walked up to meet them with big, curious eyes. The baby had fallen asleep in his arms and didn't stir even as he handed Sasuke over to their mother. He looked back at Kakashi. "You're very quick, Kakashi-san. You saw through mother's genjutsu right away."

Ah yes, compliments from a six-year-old. Hurray. How had he gone from being an unparalleled child genius to this? "...Thanks, Itachi-chan."

"We should leave. Kakashi-kun, I will let you know when we next meet. Do those exercises, but don't strain yourself too much. Your body needs time to adjust," Mikoto said.

"Already? But –" there was so much more he wants to ask her, so much more he wanted to try, but the baby was trying to stir and Mikoto's attention had already shifted.

"I'm sorry, but my time has to be divided carefully," she said. "I wish you good luck. I will see you soon." With that, she took Itachi's small hand in her own and turned around to leave.

"Wait! Why – then why are you helping at all?" Kakashi called out, because she hadn't explained it. But if she was really defying her husband's wishes, her _clan's_ wishes… What were her motivations?

Mikoto paused. Her eyes grew soft as she looked at him over her shoulder. "I could tell you it's because I don't want our clan's greatest secret to fall into enemy hands if you get killed, but… That would be a lie. The truth is…" She looked down at her baby, hair falling over her face. "I don't want any more children to die. No matter what family they come from."

She looked back up and smiled faintly. "Take that as you will. I'll see you soon. Work hard."

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Plot's coming. Soon-ish. Let me know what you think!**

 **The Mikoto we see in Canon is a pretty sweet lady, but keep in mind that's her talking to her young son – she's going to treat outsiders differently. She's a kind person at heart, but she's also a jounin.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5.**

* * *

 **AN: I promise there's going to be a plot someday.**

* * *

September rolled in on the wings of a thunderstorm, echoing off the Hokage statue and back across the village. Deep underneath the mountain, a torrent of water curled up on itself before jetting towards a wooden dummy. It fell apart into a fine vapor a few feet into its rapid course.

Rin let out a hissing breath from between her teeth, and glared at the glowing red chakra that started to envelop her hand. "It's happening again!" She cried out.

As she watched, the red chakra bubbled up to her wrist at a sluggish, almost leisurely pace. Underneath it, her skin seemed to burn hot and cold all at once.

" Please hurry up."

"Yes, yes, it's just about done," Minato sensei said, scribbling a final line of ink on a piece of chakra paper. "There. This should work."

With that, he crossed the distance between himself and Rin in a flash, and pressed the piece of paper to her bare forehead.

Sanbi growled in protest, but his chakra receded and pulled back into the void it had come from.

Minato gave her a satisfied nod. "This seal should have fewer side effects than the one I used last time, Rin-chan."

Rin let out a shaky breath. Her skin was ruddy and sore where the demonic chakra had touched it. "The chakra got further than it did last time," she said softly. She didn't feel nauseous this time, which she attributed to the new and improved seal.

Minato's eyes went warm and compassionate as he pushed down the more scientific part of his mind and allowed the empathic one to come to the forefront. "You're more tired now than you were two days ago. We've been drilling you all day all week."

"Do you feel aggravated? Annoyed, aggressive ?" Fukagu asked, less kindly. "It is known bijuu respond to emotion."

"Not really," Rin replied.

"I'm feeling pretty aggravated," Kushina muttered. "Boys, she's tired and hurt. Is it very bad, Rin-chan?"

Minato sensei pulled a face. "I'm sorry. Let me see." He took Rin's hand between his own, carefully avoiding the painful skin. He hissed. "It's starting to blister."

Rin nodded. Normally, she would have just used a simple mystic palm healing technique to repair the broken skin, but… That would require chakra again. She wasn't sure that would be safe, and Minato and Fugaku hadn't yet allowed her to try it out when her reserves were full.

"Every time you use your chakra, you also draw on Sanbi's," The Uchiha had explained. "Imagine using demonic chakra to try and heal someone. You would probably do them more harm than good."

So they made her try out her newfound water affinity instead, over and over again until she could no longer stand the sight of water.

Rin was a medic, and had been since her Academy teacher had recognized her precise chakra control and apprenticed her to one of the hospital medics. She had become a full-fledged field medic upon reaching the rank of chunin when she was eleven.

And now, they were telling her she could no longer do the one thing she had loved most about being a shinobi.

Rin pulled her hand back from Minato's grasp. "I'll bandage it when I get home," she said shortly.

Minato sighed. "Please just let one of us do it for you."

Rin shook her head. "I know how to do it, and you and Fugaku-san have other things to worry about."

Like the war, for example. The two of them always rushed off right after Rin's practice to return to their usual daily schedule. Just because they weren't required at the frontlines anymore didn't mean they had all the time in the world to sit around and train jinchuuriki.

Still, Minato gave her one of those smiles that pulled a little at the edges, like he used when he was fondly exasperated. "We have you to worry about as well. One does not exclude the other."

From the corner of her eye, Rin could see Fugaku give her teacher a slightly skeptical look. "Her bandaging skills are probably better than yours, Minato," the older man said. "Let her take care of it. I would like to have a word with you about different matters."

Minato pulled a rather comical face, but he agreed to Fugaku's proposal and quickly moved the four of them to his office. Much to Rin's surprise, it was already occupied; a pair of tall ANBU stood near the door, and a third man was looking out of the window at the storm outside, hands folded on his back. The strange man turned around and looked at them with a single hawkish eye. He had to be in his fifties and leaned on a cane, but nothing about his posture suggested weakness.

Uchiha Fugaku stiffened at the sight of the strange man. "I see you already have company, Minato. If you don't mind, I will speak to you later." He gave Minato a quick half-bow, which was more acknowledgment than he usually showed his Hokage, and left the room, glaring at the two ANBU by the door.

Minato sighed. "Danzou-san. I didn't realize you would come by today."

The strange man bowed. "I assure you I would not have done so if I didn't think it was important." His single eye ran across the small company, lingering briefly on Kushina before finding Rin. Although his eye was a warm brown color, it seemed cold and uncaring. "But I see you were already busy."

Minato made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "We just finished. Kushina, would you mind taking care of Rin?" He added, giving his wife a pleading look. "I'll try to make it in time for dinner tonight."

Kushina didn't seem annoyed or angry – instead, she looked back at the old man with an uncharacteristically scrutinizing expression. She'd put a hand on Rin's shoulder the moment they saw Danzou, and now Rin could feel her fingers tightening. "Of course. I'll order takeout."

Minato smiled briefly but brilliantly, and then Kushina steered Rin out of the small office. Once outside, the older woman let out a long breath. "Come on, we'll go to our place. I have bandages there, and we can talk about what happened."

Rin was quiet during their walk. Her hand had started to throb painfully with every heartbeat, so she distracted herself by thinking of the strange man in Minato's office. She was sure she had seen him before at some point, before sensei became Hokage, but she wasn't really sure of his position. A Council member of Sandaime's perhaps?

Fugaku-san had certainly left very quickly after seeing the man, and he wasn't exactly the kind of guy to hide his dislike of someone. Plus, he had suddenly bowed to Minato where usually he would treat him much the same way he would treat any junior shinobi.

 _Whoever this Danzou person is, he just set a whole room of high-ranking shinobi on edge_ , Rin thought.

Back at the apartment, she sank down on the couch with her hand tucked into a small bowl of water. Kushina seemed a little distracted as she rummaged through her medicine cabinet to get the correct items. Rin didn't mind – she had to cool her hand in water for a few more minutes, anyway.

Besides, there were other things to think of. Like the fact that just practicing water jutsu didn't seem like a particularly productive way of dealing with her… Problem. Sensei's argument was that it would help her recognize her own limits so that Sanbi would never be able to take over, but...

There was still so much she didn't know. Like what it would be like to fight someone outside of a protected environment. Or what would happen if she were to get angry, or sad, or… What she would do if Sanbi woke up properly and somehow found a flaw in one of the seals.

It wouldn't matter how many jutsu she could fire off safely.

She looked at Kushina's back and briefly envied her for whatever special quality it was she had that allowed her to be a perfect jinchuuriki. Would she know how to handle the Kyuubi if it escaped? Would she need chakra repressing seals like the one Minato sensei made at all? Or was she self-sufficient?

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice Kushina until the older woman sat down next to her on the couch. "Does it hurt very much?" Kushina asked.

Rin shrugged. "The water helps."

Kushina sighed. "We should get a medic in on your training for situations like these. Burn wounds can be very serious."

Rin's head dipped. "I'm a medic," she said sullenly.

"Oh, Rin-chan. I'm so sorry." Kushina wrapped an arm around Rin's shoulders. "I don't think we asked you how you feel about that at all, did we?"

"What's the point? No matter how I feel, I can't change it."

Kushina looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well… It's true no Konoha jinchuuriki before you has ever been a medic. But then none of them ever tried, either. Just because the process sounds dangerous on paper…"

Rin wiped at her eyes. "It's too dangerous."

"It certainly is, right now. Maybe later, when you know how to handle yourself a little bit better… Maybe you can just try it out. On a clone, or something."

"Do you really think so?" Rin looked up. "I… Would like that. I don't know if I'd be very good at killing people. But that's what they want me to do, isn't it? As jinchuuriki?"

Kushina frowned. "That's because some people will look at us and see only how they can use us. But Minato isn't like that. He won't make you do anything you don't want to do."

"It's war. Konoha needs everyone who can help. Having a jinchuuriki could be a morale boost, but not if you only keep her at home," Rin said fiercely. "Besides, I can't just sit back and do nothing while Kakashi and Kurenai and you and all my friends go off to war. But when I was a medic I could help the village in a way I could… I could do."

Kushina was quiet for a moment. She looked up at the ceiling at the sound of a particularly loud thunderclap. "Have you? Ever killed someone?"

Now it was Rin's turn to go quiet. "Yes," she said eventually. "A boy. He snuck up on my and Obito's camp when sensei and Kakashi were on patrol. He was a little bit older than me. Obito didn't wake up in time."

"What did you feel, back then?"

"Relieved that I could protect Obito. But also... He was just a boy. Even if he was Iwa." Rin looked down at her hands. She'd caught him with a lucky strike of her kunai, straight into his throat. It had been messy and horrible, and she hadn't been able to get the sound of his choking out of her mind for weeks.

But she had saved Obito and herself from that same fate.

"Kushina-nee, I do want to fight for this village, even as jinchuuriki. But I'm not sure what kind of person it will turn me into," she finally said.

Kushina's hold on her tightened. "None of us do. But I can tell you something Mito-sama once taught me, which is that the most important thing to a jinchuuriki is love..."

* * *

Minato looked out across the village from another window set in another room, a few miles away. He wasn't smiling. He didn't have any reason to. "And you're absolutely sure about this?" He said again.

"There's no doubt in my mind, Hokage-sama," Shimura Danzou replied. "Kirigakure intends to ally with Iwagakure. All signs are pointing towards it."

"That would be serious indeed," Utatane Koharu said, exchanging a nervous glance with her husband. The two councilmembers had arrived shortly after the others have left. "There hasn't been an alliance between two of the great shinobi villages for decades."

Really, it was just like Danzou to reinforce information like this by bringing along the two councilmembers. It was blatant manipulation, but there was nothing Minato could do about it. He would have to tolerate being ganged up on by Danzou and the more easily led councilmembers, who trusted his every word.

If it wasn't for the fact that his own ANBU were bringing back similar reports, Minato might not have believed him.

He turned back towards the table standing in the center of the room. It held a large map of the world, littered with small wooden figures that symbolized troops and strongholds. Kirigakure lay to the south-east, across the sea, and Iwagakure to the north-west, with only the land of Grass separating their borders. If the two of them were to work together, they could attack Konoha from both sides.

 _Honestly, Shodaime... Did you have to take such a central location to build Konoha?_

Of course any attacking force still have to brave volcanic mountain ranges and dizzyingly large forests, but still.

The third great shinobi war was a war of attrition. It had been going on for nigh on five years by now, and there wasn't a single shinobi village that was not exhausted. Minato did his best to divide his forces and keep the younger generations further away from the front lines than Sandaime had, but if this went on he wouldn't be able to protect anyone from going where the fighting was thickest.

And he would have to send them there. Possibly to their deaths. Men, women, even the children. He was already sending out veterans he would rather have kept at home to nurse their psychological and physiological trauma.

He let out a deep breath. He really, really didn't want to lower the Academy graduation ages any further. He thought of his students and his unborn son, and clenched his fist.

"What of their communication lines? The land of Fire lies between Kirigakure and Iwa. It cannot be easy for them to communicate," he wearily asked.

"We believe they're passing their messages through the land of Steam, to our north. Yugakure, the resident shinobi village, has been utterly crippled by Kumogakure's latest attack, so they don't present much of a threat," Danzou said, pointing it out on the map.

"Risky," Minato murmured. "Very risky. Why?"

"Perhaps they are planning a large-scale attack," Koharu said uneasily.

"A successful joint attack would certainly be worth risking a handful of shinobi in the land of Steam…" Minato agreed.

"We should strike quickly," Danzou said, unnecessarily. "If we infiltrate the land of Steam quickly –"

"We would be breaking our truce with Kumo," Homura interjected, the first thing he had said that evening.

"Hence why I said _infiltrate."_

"Please, gentlemen. This is all just speculation," Koharu said. "They might be going through the land of Sound, which doesn't have a shinobi village at all, or the land of Tea. We should get better intelligence first, and then decide on a course of action."

"And risk being too late to stop an attack?" Danzou snapped.

"That's enough, all of you! I will not have you bickering like children in the war room," Minato said sharply.

The others turned wide eyes on him, and for a moment Minato was awfully aware of his own youth – then he shook it off. "I need you all to stay calm and rational. There is nothing to be gained by rushing into action without thinking. We cannot break our truce with Kumogakure by blundering into territories under their protection, nor can we ignore our own Intel and not act at all."

"Then what do we do?" Koharu said, her eyes narrowed.

Minato hesitated. Then, resolve won over. "We send in a small unit with great experience at both intelligence gathering and subterfuge. One or two people will not be noticed, whereas a full complement might."

Danzou narrowed his one good eye. "And this unit… Let me guess: your old teacher."

He said it as though he was speaking of something particularly distasteful sticking to the bottom of his shoe. Koharu and Homura didn't seem to share his sentiment, fortunately; the look they exchanged was a hopeful one.

"Yes, my _teacher_. Jiraiya sensei has been an invaluable asset in Rain Country. He knows the work, and should trouble arise he is powerful enough to fight his way out _and_ cover his tracks," Minato said, exasperated.

Danzou's upper lip twitched. His expression told Minato exactly how much faith he had in Jiraiya's abilities to remain undiscovered, but he didn't protest. Good. Let the old goat keep his mouth shut for once.

"Jiraiya has become a reliable shinobi," Homura nodded. "Hiruzen will approve."

Minato resisted the urge to give the table a good smack. One of his main advisers countered everything he said, and the other two only accepted his plans if they thought his successor would have agreed. They were too set in their ways. He would have killed to have Jiraiya and Kushina be there instead of them, but that would smack of nepotism. He couldn't just remove the old guard from the office without risking the wrath of the more traditional clan heads, who already disliked him for his youth and progressiveness.

If only he'd had some more time in office during peacetime, instead of being launched straight into war.

"Very well. I will inform him myself. Meanwhile, Danzou-san – keep your men away from the conflict area. That is an _order_." Minato looked the older man straight in the eye, challenging. "If I should so much as hear a _rumor_ of on unauthorized ANBU showing himself, I will know who is responsible."

The small office fell eerily quiet. Officially, Minato didn't know about ANBU ROOT. Unofficially, he couldn't wait to blast the whole operation out of the sky. The only thing still missing was proper evidence.

Danzou had an excellent poker face. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said calmly, and that seemed to be that.

When the council had finally left, Minato turned back to the window and let out a deep sigh. There hadn't been a thunder strike in several minutes now, and the clouds were starting to clear up. It wouldn't be long before the heat of summer once again reclaimed the air of Konohagakure. Kakashi would probably go out and train again, as he was wont to do as of late, and perhaps Rin and Kushina would go to the riverside to collect shells.

Minato, on the other hand, would be summoning his former teacher and telling him he would have to risk his life again for the sake of the village.

But that was what he had dreamt of, for all those years. To be Hokage. And if it meant being able to make a change, he would have to take the good with the bad.

* * *

Kakashi lost his grip on the stone wall before him and, with a startled cry, found himself losing the battle against gravity. He had gotten about three quarters of the way up the rock cliff in the last hour, and was about to discover that going down was a hell of a lot quicker.

Kakashi also found out that the grassy floor down below was a _lot_ harder than it looked. He groaned. Not for the first time, he had the first Hokage to thank for sharing a simple jutsu with his people that allowed one to reinforce their bones with chakra – or he would probably have snapped his neck on the way down. As Kakashi sat up his neck gave an audible pop and one of his shoulders felt stiff, but he would take that over imminent death anytime.

"A most valiant attempt!" A young voice cried out beside him, pitching awkwardly halfway through.

Kakashi turned around, recognizing not just a fellow member of the male sex undergoing the hell that was puberty, but also just who exactly that voice belonged to. " _Gai_. What are you doing here?"

Gai gave him a wide grin and a thumbs up. "I'm going to climb the cliff, of course! Although I haven't done it without chakra before, like you. What an excellent idea! That should boost my stamina as well as my muscular development –"

"Please don't explain my own training methods to me," Kakashi cut him off, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Gai paused in his litany. "Why, were you hurt on the way down? Do I need to call a medic?"

Kakashi wasn't sure whether it was the owlishly blinking eyes or the green jumpsuit that did it, but he suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to get up, ignore his pain, and start to climb again. He growled, and struggled his way back to his feet to do just that.

This time, he would try it with bare feet. Perhaps he would have more grip that way.

Gai was still watching him curiously by the time he had finished taking his boots off. Then, the other boy grinned. "Another excellent idea!" Gai said, and took off his own boots.

Kakashi groaned again.

As a rule, he tried to avoid meeting Maito Gai. There wasn't necessarily anything wrong with the older boy, aside from his fashion sense, obliviousness and general personality, but Kakashi preferred to spend his trainings in _silence_.

Gai preferred to narrate his own exercises.

Focusing on finding handholds was a lot tougher when there was a green copycat about two meters away from you doing the exact same thing but cheering every time he succeeded.

It was even worse when said green disaster seemed to grasp the whole thing a lot quicker than Kakashi himself did.

Kakashi blinked. Somehow, Gai was overtaking him. It wasn't that Gai's technique was better, necessarily, but he needed less time to recover in between actions – as if he had some invisible engine driving him on.

"Hey, I said no chakra!"

Gai looked down. "I'm not using any," he said, tilting his head curiously.

Kakashi growled. He wasn't going to let _Gai_ of all people beat him here, was he? He looked up at the rock face, identified some of the holds he had used earlier, and pushed himself to scale the wall quicker. His shoulders and fingers burned in no time at all, but it was worth it just to be able to keep up with Gai. The other boy only grinned and picked up his own pace as well.

It really shouldn't have surprised Kakashi that the increased pace only led to them making more mistakes. Gai was the first to drop, and then Kakashi made the mistake of looking over his shoulder and barking out a laugh – losing his balance in the process.

"Oww," Gai complained, just as Kakashi, still flat on his back, said, "Well. That was stupid."

Gai leapt up like a spring, completely ignoring Kakashi's comment. "Let's go again until we manage to reach the top!"

Kakashi groaned, because despite himself, that was exactly what he had been thinking. This was going to be a long afternoon.

It took them another adrenaline-filled fifteen minutes to finally reach the top, but as Kakashi allowed his exhausted body to sprawl on top of the rock he could at least satisfy himself with the fact that they had reached it simultaneously. Which, while still terrifying, was better than losing altogether.

"I think I can see my house from up here!" Gai said, shielding his eyes with one tan hand. A courier bird high up above briefly clipped her wings and fell some ten feet in a salute. Gai spread his arms wide and whooped loudly.

Kakashi lay spread eagle beside him, still panting. Every inch of his body felt like it was on fire. " _How_ … are you still moving?"

True, his body had already been exhausted before he had started to climb; Mikoto drilled him ruthlessly at every opportunity they got (which for some reason, always seemed to coincide with Rin's training days), and he would usually finish the day with more exercises of his own. He was starting to notice his arms were getting stronger, and the muscles more toned, but otherwise progress seemed slow.

Gai, on the other hand, was subjected to daily hand-to-hand combat training with his jounin instructor, Akimichi Chouza, an absolute giant of a man. He had to be every bit as tired as Kakashi was, but somehow… Somehow, he was ready to go for another round.

Gai shrugged. "I just keep going. There's not much to it."

"It can't be as simple as that."

"Hmm, yes it can. My father used to say there is nothing quite like positive thought to keep exhaustion away!"

 _Your father the eternal genin_ , Kakashi wanted to say, but swallowed it. Gai's father had died a year ago. Kakashi didn't make jokes about people's dead fathers. He knew how it felt to be on the receiving end. "Your dad… He specialized in taijutsu, right?"

"Yeah. He was the most powerful taijutsu user I've known! And the only reason he was able to obtain his secret technique is because he never gave up. So I just keep going, even when I feel tired," Gai said, and another grin appeared on his face. "But you're the genius. Surely you know."

Kakashi snorted. What a joke. He pulled his knees up and let his elbows rest on them. "I don't know an awful lot, actually."

Gai's grin faded. "Sure you do. Don't you?"

Kakashi avoided his worried eyes. "No, I don't. My stamina is crap," he forced out. Because, well, it was. If he had had better stamina and more chakra, perhaps Minato sensei wouldn't have had to help at all when he saved Rin. Well, not until she needed new seals. Which reminded Kakashi to ask Minato to teach him about those. He buried his face in his hands. So much to learn, and so little time.

Dammit. What was it about Gai's caterpillar eyebrows and honest face that made him admit any of this?

Gai was being uncharacteristically silent. He frowned as he looked out over the forest below. "Kakashi, you are the strongest person in our generation right now. You shouldn't insult yourself, because when you do, you insult all of us as well."

Kakashi blinked, then snorted. Much to his surprise, he felt the urge to laugh. "Maybe I've got the strongest techniques, but that's not going to be enough to stay ahead forever."

Gai gave him a quizzical look. There was grass stuck behind his ear somehow.

Ah, damn it. Now he'd have to tell him the whole thing. "A long time ago, my father told me you would… You'd – ugh. You'd become strong. 'Cause you don't give up," he forced out.

Something very odd happened to Gai's face. First, his eyes started to shine. Then, as large globs of liquid turned them even shinier, he broke into a wide grin. "Did he really say that?"

"Oh, geez. Yes. Relax!"

"T-the White Fang thought I would become strong!"

"Don't let it go to your head."

"But it's great! It's great when people have faith in you! Say, Kakashi – do you know what this means?"

Kakashi sighed. "No, but you're probably going to tell me."

"It means we should keep trying hard together to get stronger! So we can live up to our fathers' names!"

Damn it. That made Obito's eye sting. Kakashi looked away. In the distance, he could see the Hokage Mountain, the yellow rock bright in the sunlight. "Yeah," he said softly. "But how?"

Gai unexpectedly grabbed his shoulder and turned him so they were face-to-face. "By fighting together, of course. We can become training partners."

A beat. "No."

Gai's substantial eyebrows drew together in a frown. "If you will not fight with me willingly, I will just keep challenging you until you do."

"I'm going to ignore you if you keep challenging me."

Gai gave him a rather keen-eyed look. "I never give up on anything. If you will not be my training partner, you'll have to be my rival!"

Kakashi made a sound somewhere in between groan, sigh, and the sound a much put-upon mother makes when her brief time alone is interrupted by one of her children running past carrying scissors. He stood up. "No."

"Yes!"

" _No_ ," Kakashi said, and began his descent.

"We can work on our stamina together, rival!"

"That sounds like something Jiraiya sensei would say."

A brief pause. "I do not understand that comment, but I'll take it as a compliment!"

As Kakashi climbed down, he had a sneaking suspicion he had just created a monster.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **I could really use some encouragement. Let me know if you liked it or, hell, read it.**

 **Gai is a treasure but he's so hard to write, honestly. His dialogue is really tricky because it really only works when you have that beautiful bombastic voice saying it. So… Apologies if he sounds stilted.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: This chapter is a hot mess.** **It's all over the place thematically, but it gets the job done.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6.**

* * *

Rin got the day off on Sunday, which was a blessing after a week of hard training. She felt wrung out, her chakra barely more than a low simmer. her skin was still irritated where Sanbi's chakra had burned like steam.

To distract herself – and to indulge her friend – she went round to Kurenai's place and knocked on the door bright and early. Kakashi had left the house a little bit before her, off to his mystery training again, so there was no reason for her to stick around the apartment all day.

Kurenai's mom was warm and kind and pleasant and all-too-familiar when she opened the door, with her soft civilian hands and lack of scars – too much like Rin's father had been, before – before everything. Before his kind eyes had turned distant and sad. Rin swallowed past the lump in her throat to smile and nod and exchange all the expected pleasantries, and hoped like hell that the aching longing in her chest wasn't visible on her face.

Kurenai's parents were divorced, and she lived with her civilian mom over the weekends. They had a nice little apartment, the walls painted in warm, mellow colors and two big, soft looking sofas taking up most of the space in the living room. It was much nicer than Kurenai's father's apartment, which had an air of being too empty and too shinobi-esque to ever deserve the moniker 'cozy'.

Kurenai was sitting at the table, her eyes closed as she practiced her hand seals. A rose hovered in the air before her, just a little bit too opaque to seem real. Something loosened in Rin's chest upon seeing it.

"How pretty," Rin said softly. "Hi, Kurenai."

Kurenai looked up in surprise. Her concentration broke and the rose faded out of existence. "Rin! You came!" She beamed, and for a moment it was just like old times.

"How have you been? Did you and your dad find a new house yet?" Kurenai asked once Rin had settled down at the table. Her mom brought them drinks.

"No, no such luck." Rin said. She hated lying to her friends.

Kurenai sighed. "Who would've thought houses were so badly maintained in Konoha? It's ridiculous."

"Gas leaks are difficult. They have to do redo all of the wiring. Or piping? Whatever gas comes from," Rin smiled apologetically.

"It's a good thing you're never going to be a repairman, Rin-chan. Seriously though? The state should be re-housing you guys. This isn't right."

Rin shrugged helplessly. The official Minato-approved story of a gas leak setting them out of their house came with red tape over their front doors and, gratifyingly, her father being forced to move into a hotel room until the 'leaky gas pipes' were fixed. Kakashi had looked particularly evil when her father's situation had been explained to her, so she suspected he had had a hand in uprooting the man. The thought of her father being put out of his house wasn't actually all that comforting, when it came down to it. The house she had grown up in, the house she still loved, stood empty as a constant reminder of her father's rejection. At least walking past it would be easier with the knowledge that he wasn't inside to watch her as she went by.

"I'm sorry," Kurenai said again. "If it wasn't for my dad, you could totally stay with me. Just imagine the pillow forts we could build. And we could practice genjutsu together in the evenings. Did I show you the books my father got me?"

Rin smiled, genuinely grateful. Rin wasn't sure whether Kurenai's father actually didn't want her to stay in the house or whether Minato had given him an excuse not to let her move in, but she didn't really care either way. It would have been impossible to keep her secret while living with people not in the know. At least with Kakashi, she never had to pretend. That didn't make the offer any less meaningful, though. Kurenai was a good friend. Accepting her offer, however, would be tantamount lying to her.. Well, lying even more.

Rin hated lying.

"Staying with Kakashi isn't so bad. He's a great friend," she said. A truth for every lie. Perhaps that would feel better.

Kurenai gave her a slightly skeptical look. "I suppose you would know better than I do. I only remember what he was like from before… Well, you know."

Rin looked down at her cup. The tea was a very nice shade of caramel brown, just the way she liked it. Obito had liked it light and sugary. Kakashi preferred green tea. "I know. Please don't worry about me. I'll be just fine."

"I hope you're right. I was worried when you came back last month, you know. You were so quiet," Kurenai leveled her with a wary look. "And you still won't tell me what happened."

"You know I can't. I'm not allowed."

"I know, I just – I'm your friend, and I want to help you. And because I don't know, I keep imagining…" Kurenai looked away. "I keep imagining the worst, you know? With everyone being so secretive, and you staying in the hospital for so long…"

Rin's stomach dropped. "I wasn't in the hospital for that long," she said quickly. Only a week, according to official records. In reality, of course, it had been closer to a month.

Kurenai gave her an uneasy look. "You don't have to lie to me. I can keep a secret. Asuma said he heard his dad talking about you. That you were in the hospital for much longer."

Rin could feel the color drained from her face. "He… Overheard that?"

"Nothing else, I promise!" Kurenai said quickly. "He just hears things, since his dad's the Sandaime and all. Just that you were there for longer than you said you were. Rin-chan, I don't really understand why you lied to us about it, but whatever it is… If you just tell me perhaps I can help."

Her friends had been talking about her hospitalization. They had speculated and thought and analyzed… What if they had reached the truth?

No.

No, speculation alone wouldn't allow them to draw that conclusion. But then what did Kurenai think happened?

"I was just injured. It was nothing special."

"I thought perhaps someone had _captured_ you, you know –" Kurenai said simultaneously.

They stopped and looked at each other for a moment. Kurenai couldn't mean – _oh_. It suddenly dawned on Rin.

"You thought… Someone _tortured_ me?" Rin repeated slowly.

Kurenai flushed red. "It's– It's not unheard of. And you were so different when you came back. And you stayed in the hospital for so long. I guess I didn't know what to think. I'm sorry, Rin-chan."

Rin let out a long breath. "No, don't be. I'm the one who should be sorry. I promise you that's not what happened." She reached out and grabbed one of Kurenai's hands in her own. "I wasn't tortured. I just… It's hard to explain. But everyone is helping me. And I'm already more like I used to be, aren't I?" She smiled to emphasize her final point and hope they didn't tremble at the edges, like her heart. Would Kurenai be this kind, if she knew the truth?

Kurenai held her gaze as if to read her. "You _are_ more like yourself…" She said slowly, and then smiled back. "I'm glad it wasn't… You know. I'm not sure what I would have done if it was. It happened to my uncle, and he still can't sleep through the night."

"I'm glad too," Rin said, and then thought she should never have pressed the point at all. If she had just left Kurenai to her speculation… But no. That wasn't fair on her friend. Omitting the truth was at least somewhat better than lying outright, and Rin had her belly full of lying.

"Thank you, though. For asking whether I'm okay, I mean," she added.

Kurenai smiled and surprised Rin by standing up and drawing her into a hug. "You're my friend," she said, a little shy. "Of course I asked."

They sipped their tea in silence. If it wasn't for that, they could have been too ordinary teenagers spending a few hours together.

Rin tapped her fingers on the table. "Kurenai? How did you decide you wanted to specialize in genjutsu?"

Kurenai blinked in surprise. "Oh. I have good chakra control but I'm not very good at close combat, so genjutsu suits me perfectly. Why?"

 _Because I need to get better at killing people_ , Rin thought, not without a hint of irony. "Because I've been thinking about my offensive capabilities. I want to become a stronger fighter, not just a healer," she said.

Kurenai's surprise didn't let up. "Oh. Are you thinking about trying genjutsu?"

"I might. I have good chakra control as well."

"Yeah, but with your reserves you could also go for ninjutsu," Kurenai suggested. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I think you have a lot more chakra now than you used to. I bet it's from training with Kakashi and the Yondaime," she smiled.

Rin's expression froze. "I... You noticed that?"

"You're not exactly hiding it," Kurenai said, looking amused. "Are you sure you're not trying to become the next Tsunade-hime?"

Rin huffed out a laugh, even as she tried to gather her chakra towards herself, wrapping it around her being like one would a cloak. It was slow to respond. "I'm sure. I don't think I want healing to be my main specialty anymore," she added, trying to make it sound as cheerful as she could.

Kurenai frowned. "I thought you loved healing."

"I do. I did. I don't know, I just want to explore what I'm capable of," Rin improvised. She wanted to heal more than anything, but she had to be realistic as well: her new status meant she would be far more effective at dealing damage than healing it. At least if she could learn to fight like Minato and Kakashi and Kushina, she could really protect them. Not just look on from afar.

Of course it would also make it easier for the village to use her. She pushed that thought away.

"Well, we can always go and practice genjutsu together sometime. I can teach you some of the basics, if you like, so we can see if you have an affinity for it," Kurenai said uncertainly. "I'm sure my teacher wouldn't mind."

Rin's smile became more genuine. Perhaps if she could think of fighting and hurting enemies as protecting her friends in a different way, she could at least accept its necessity – and perhaps even gain some kind of satisfaction in becoming skillful at it.

Of course, that was just theory. The battlefield would have to prove whether it held true.

* * *

Kakashi and Rin spent that evening at Minato and Kushina's place for dinner (take-out, of course), an old team tradition that had refused to die after they became chunin. Not that they had tried to let it – it was one of Rin's favorite days of the week. It was startlingly easy to slip back and be her old self around them, so it wasn't long before they were all happily eating and chatting away.

Or well, most of them anyway. Kakashi seemed rather distracted.

"So Kakashi, have you given any thought to your birthday yet?" Minato said, around a mouthful of noodles. Thick broth dribbled down his chin and made a valiant attempt at escaping to the safety of his lap before Kushina caught it with a napkin.

Kakashi looked like he had just swallowed a goat. He blinked at them. "Birthday? Wait, is it September?"

Rin almost choked on her noodles.

Minato placed his chopsticks down with something like concern written on his face. "Are you not feeling well, Kakashi-kun?" He squinted."Or is this just a strategy to avoid answering the question?" He added, speaking with the benefit of eight years worth of Kakashi-experience.

Kakashi sunk back into his chair, looking a little ruffled. Rin couldn't tell which of Minato's comments had hit the mark, but one of them had.

"Oh please, like he would bother lying when he could just speak the truth," Kushina said. "You really lost track of the days, huh Kakashi?"

"Well. Hmm. That's not very punctual of you, Kakashi," Minato said, apparently satisfied. He picked up his chopsticks again and dug back into the ramen, but not before giving his student a gleaming blue look. "You haven't answered the question though."

"I haven't thought about my _birthday_ yet," Kakashi deadpanned. "I was a little bit too busy thinking about the _war_."

"Oh sure, sure – I bet you didn't give any thought whatsoever to the kind of _gifts_ you might get," Minato said innocently.

"I _didn't_ give it thought," Kakashi grumbled, arms crossed over his chest, but he ruined the picture by throwing a quick, curious glance at his teacher.

Rin ducked her head to hide her smile. "You have been awfully busy lately," she piped up. "That must be why you forgot the day."

Kakashi shot her a look that was at least slightly grateful. "Yeah. I've been training."

"Oh?" Minato hummed.

"Aren't you always? What's so special about this training?" Kushina said, filling her bowl with a second serving.

Kakashi's eye widened a little. It was almost imperceptible, but Rin recognized that look. He was _hiding_ something. "I'm just trying to improve," he said. "Same as always."

Minato raised one eyebrow.

"That's great, Kakashi," Rin said, coming to his rescue. "Are you still working on your taijutsu technique?" Something nice and innocuous, unlikely to cause concern.

Kakashi's scowl lightened. He held her gaze for a moment before looking down at his bowl and stirring his noodles around awkwardly. "Yeah, sure."

Yep, he was definitely hiding something.

"Man, I haven't had a proper party in ages. This would be the perfect opportunity!" Kushina sighed. "Although I wouldn't be allowed to drink anyway, with the baby and all."

"Never mind that the party would be for a fourteen-year-old," Kakashi murmured.

"Still, we should at least have presents," Kushina mused, who seemed determined to ignore his comments.

"I'm not sure you should discuss presents without the birthday boy present."

"Oi, don't get cheeky!"

"What? It's common sense."

"Why, you little –"

In hindsight, Rin thought as she and Minato exchanged a long-suffering look, it really shouldn't have come as a surprise that even something as simple as a birthday party could derail the conversation. She tuned out the bickering, and finally started to make some proper progress on her meal.

xXx

Later that evening, after they had gone home, Rin found Kakashi on their small balcony. He'd moved his stool there so he could drape his arm over the balustrade. With the wind ruffling his hair, he made a rather elegant picture. The only thing out of place was the jagged scar running across his eye, the skin looking pinched and painful on his otherwise smooth face.

"There you are. Are… Are you okay?" Rin asked, careful to announce her presence with a knock on the door post first.

He startled. "Oh. Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Rin frowned. She hesitated for a moment, but then worry overtook shyness and she sat down next to him on the cold stone, facing the apartment. "Is it... Is it something I did?"

He practically whiplashed himself in his hurry to look at her. "No! Of course not. Why would you think that?"

Rin's cheeks burned. _Because I've invaded your house. Because I'm not the same as I used to be._ _Because I almost made you kill me._ "Sorry. I shouldn't assume."

He made an irritated noise in the back of his throat. "No, I'm sorry. I haven't… I'm not around a lot lately. I should be. You still have nightmares."

He didn't meet her eyes, which Rin was grateful for; she was pretty certain her face had gone bright red. She had completely misinterpreted his silences. He wasn't wary of her, he was still worried about her. And why wouldn't he be? He'd never shown any sign of judging her for any of what happened. If anything, he was more likely to judge himself for it. Despite her shame, her heart seemed to grow two sizes for him. "You have nightmares too," she finally said.

She had discovered this in her second week during her stay, when she'd woken up in the middle of the night to find him already seated at the dinner table with a haunted look in his eye. He never said what it was about, but she could guess. There were plenty of options for his sleeping mind to choose from.

He shrugged. "I'm used to them. You're not."

"I'm not sure it's possible to grow used to nightmares."

He sniffed and looked out across the village. He never talked about his feelings and she didn't really expect him to now, so she was surprised when he said, "It's the whole birthday thing. It's just awkward."

"Oh." That... Wasn't anywhere near as dark as she had expected. "Well."

The tips of Kakashi's ears had gone red again. "I just don't want Kushina to turn it into a thing, you know? With a party, or lots of gifts. Who would she even invite?" He made an angry gesture with his hand. "It would just be the four of us, right? Or, with my luck, Gai would show up."

Rin couldn't help herself. The corners of her mouth turned up into a smile. "Gai?"

"Oh, don't look at me like that. He's been following me around. It's not my fault."

Rin snorted, and started to giggle. "Why?" Gai was a nice boy, but he was so completely different from Kakashi that imagining them together made her head hurt.

"He's gotten it into his head that we're _rivals_ now," Kakashi said, pronouncing the word rivals as he would cockroaches.

That didn't exactly help with Rin's laughing fit. Obito would have loved this.

"Oh, har har, very funny."

"I just – your face –"

He scowled. Rin made a valiant attempt to school her face.

"So are you two training together, now?"

"Yes," he sighed. "If nothing else, he's... Motivating."

Rin thought of green spandex and enthusiastic shouting." That's one way to put it."

Kakashi scratched the side of his face. "About Kushina, though… Do you think she would actually organize something?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. She's not really one to do things against people's wills."

"She got Minato sensei to shave that mustache off, that one time."

"She did the world a favor."

"True."

"If she does, though, we can just… I don't know. Sneak off and have an unbirthday party," Rin improvised.

"A what now?" Kakashi grinned.

"It's something I've read about. We just leave and go to the library, or something. Somewhere quiet, with no people. Somewhere Kushina wouldn't be caught dead."

"Hah," Kakashi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Convenient."

Rin grinned. "Deal?"

Kakashi smiled back, the edges of his eyes crinkling cheerfully. " Deal. Although Kushina won't be happy. She never passes up a chance to celebrate something."

"I don't know. I feel like she's the type to appreciate a good escape attempt."

"You have a point."

They smiled together, and it occurred to Rin just what a wonderful evening this had turned out to be. She wouldn't have thought it was possible, a few weeks ago.

Still smiling, she looked up at the sky. The stars were starting to come out. "Hey, Kakashi?"

"Hmm?"

"... Thanks for sticking with me."

"You never have to ask."

* * *

The Land of Steam was quite a lovely place to visit, under ordinary circumstances. Its mountains were wreathed in clouds and the valleys were lush and green. It had the added benefit of having a great many hot springs, many of them communal, which Jiraiya had always dreamt of visiting some day.

Of course, there wasn't a lot of time or opportunity for sightseeing. For one thing, he was wearing a disguise so all the lovely ladies of Steam wouldn't be able to see his usual handsome face anyway, and secondly –

Well, the kid had given him an assignment. And when Minato asked for something, Jiraiya would damn well do his best to make it happen.

His frogs and Minato's ANBU had reported movement in one of the larger merchant towns of Steam. Fortunately, the merchant town was at a significant distance from the country's only shinobi village which, despite having been trampled by one of Kumo's jinchuuriki a year ago just before the truce, was still to be looked out for. They wouldn't like interference from any shinobi village, no matter that Konoha hadn't been the architect of their current misery.

Fortunately, their weakened state meant they wouldn't be sending shinobi out as far as the merchant village – which was probably exactly why Kiri and Iwa had chosen it as a meeting ground. That didn't mean it was easy to actually spot their agents in a village completely overflowing with people.

Jiraiya wasn't the only one who had chosen to disguise himself.

No, detecting the enemy agents would require a little bit more subtlety. Fortunately, Jiraiya had plenty of that when it really came to it. This wasn't Rain Country, where every inch of the land was policed and monitored – this was a land designed for civilians, where shinobi operated without the support of a Daimyo and therefore had little reason to protect anyone without being paid to do it.

Which meant the only people who stood a chance of detecting Jiraiya, as he sat down on one of the roof tops and started to gather nature chakra towards himself, were the Iwa and Kiri shinobi. And it wasn't damn likely they were nature sages themselves.

Jiraiya smiled to himself even as the nature chakra warped his features and distorted his sight. Being in Sage mode was not unlike turning the lights on in your apartment at night and finally being able to see where you dropped your keys before you left. It gave the world clarity.

For example, it made it abundantly clear he wasn't the only Sannin in town. Jiraiya snorted and then scowled. _Really_? He hadn't seen any advertising for gambling establishments, which could only mean…

He growled underneath his breath and let the nature chakra he had gathered slip through his fingers. He waited until his features had normalized again before dropping down the rooftop into a dark alley. As he paced through the streets in search of his target, disgruntlement slowly began to make way for excitement. Could she really be back in action? Had Minato sent her as well? Surely not...

No, she hadn't.

Jiraiya ended up finding Tsunade by following the most raucous cheering in the vicinity. The place was probably an illegal gambling den, badly disguised as a rather seedy bar. And there, at one of the tables, sat a deceptively young girl with blonde pigtails and a vicious grin on her face.

 _Oh, honestly_ , Jiraiya thought, and grinned. She'd figured out another trick with that seal of hers.

He went over to the table and dropped down on one of the empty chairs. It looked to be a game of luck, and Tsunade was about one particularly nervous little man away from winning. Which meant... "I'm all in on red," Jiraiya grinned, and threw his wallet onto the table.

The other customers made a range of admiring noises, but the little girl narrowed her eyes at him instead, as if she could look straight through his disguise. Hell, maybe she could.

Jiraiya's lazy grin didn't drop. He would get hell for this, probably, but it would be worth it.

The dealer turned the cards and said, after throwing a nervous glance at Tsunade, "Red wins."

" _What_?!" Tsunade slammed her hands on the table as if she had quite forgotten the relative size and cuteness of her current disguise, and glared at Jiraiya as he gathered his winnings.

Jiraiya just gave her a roaring laugh and winked. "What's a kid going to do with all this money, anyway?"

Her chakra reached out carefully, almost timidly, to touch his – and then her eyes widened briefly before turning into an even deeper scowl. The little girl she was pretending to be quite literally flipped the table and, ignoring the astonished (impressed) expressions of the onlookers, strode out of the bar.

Jiraiya grinned at the other gamblers as he collected his winnings. "That's it for me boys, thank you," he said, and quickly followed her out of the building.

Tsunade led him to an alley much like the one he had used earlier and changed back into her usual form as easy as breathing, her features shifting and growing until she was once again a grown woman. "What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed at him.

"It's good to see you too, Tsunade!" Jiraiya said jovially, and just barely resisted the urge to pick her up and hug her. He could survive stealing her money, but he probably wouldn't survive _that_. Speaking of… "Here, you can have what I just won. Not like I need it, and you're a long way from home." He raised one eyebrow.

"That's rich, coming from you. When did you get back from Ame?"

"A while back. I would have sent a letter but it's not like you left an address."

"And you did? I seem to remember you just disappeared for several months," she bit back.

"Can we not make it about Ame for once, please? I'll back off, I'm sorry," Jiraiya held up his hands. "I'm just surprised to see you here. I thought you were elsewhere."

Tsunade deflated a little. "Where would I go? The world is a mess, and you don't want to know what Grass Country looks like right now. I thought I'd go here, since it's been pretty much left alone since last year. But then I find _you_."

"You mean you haven't noticed anything odd around here?"

Tsunade frowned. "No. Should I have?"

Jiraiya sighed. He supposed that would have been too easy. "Where's your pupil? Suzume-something?"

" _Shizune_. She's in our hotel. It's safe to talk there."

"Good, then let's go there. I have a lot to tell you."

The hotel room was rather more luxurious than the three by three box Jiraiya was renting. Advantages of being a rich clan kid, Jiraiya thought. Tsunade and her pupil shared a room, sure, but they also had room service, a bathroom with a huge tub, a minibar and two queen-sized beds.

Shizune was lounging on one of them when they entered the room, all lanky teenager, and shot up. "Tsunade-sama! You can't just bring gentlemen callers in here!" She cried out, bright red.

Jiraiya grinned again.

Tsunade snorted and whacked him on the back of the head. "He's not my gentleman caller, thank you very much. Drop the disguise already, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya reluctantly did so. "Hey kid, long time no see," he told Shizune, who turned an even brighter red out of embarrassment at her mistake.

"Go and get something to eat downstairs," Tsunade told the girl, waving her off.

Once they were alone again, she sat down on one of the beds. "So? What's so urgent?"

Jiraiya explained the situation. "So if you've seen anyone you suspect might be a shinobi in disguise, you have to tell me. This could be of vital importance to us," he added.

Tsunade frowned and looked away. "I've been here for long enough, you'd think I'd notice... Either my senses have dulled or you're looking in the wrong place. Unless they're hiring civilians to do their dirty work these days."

Jiraiya sighed. "That would be the day. So either it's not here or they're just hiding it well. I'll have to stay here for longer than I planned."

"You're not staying with us. I'm not going to help you. I'm just here to gamble."

Jiraiya sat back, equally disappointed and unsurprised. "Really, Tsunade? What about Konoha?"

She looked away. "I'm not going back to Konoha."

"Not even if we need you?" It was a low-blow and Jiraiya knew it, but it still hurt to see her flinch.

"You don't need me. I'm useless the way I am right now," she bit out. "And anyway, it's not like your track record is so great. The only reason you're taking orders from Konoha again is because your student became Hokage, isn't it?"

Jiraiya flinched. "I would have taken the same orders from sensei."

"Would you, though? Are you sure you're not just blinded by your affection for this boy? It's still war, even if you claim it's to protect Konoha," Tsunade said, and leaned forward to cradle her head in her hands as if nursing a hangover. Maybe she was.

Jiraiya stood up as heat rushed to his face. "Dammit, Tsunade! I get it – I dropped the ball with you and Orochimaru. I _know_. That's exactly why I'm trying so hard right now. And if you're not going to help me, I'll just take care of things myself. Just know we could damn well use you back home, so don't you dare tell me you're useless!"

For a moment, he could see straight through the towering walls she had built up around her mind – could see the grieving, scared woman she still was, and regretted his words immediately. But there was no taking them back now that he had said them. They hung in the air between them, useless.

Jiraiya dropped his arms. "Fine. I get it. But if you ever change your mind, know that Konoha will still embrace you. That's the kind of guy Minato is."

He turned and, with a heavy heart, made for the door. He wouldn't be getting any help from this quarter.

* * *

 **Author's note.**

 **I wasn't really planning to throw Tsunade in here at all, she just snuck up on me! Anyway, there was a lot of talking in this chapter so hopefully you'll get some more action next time. Let me know what you think, and whether you think Tsunade will help Jiraiya out in the end.**

 **I might take a break on updating next week to finish up an essay.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Will Chapter 7.**

 **AN. Have some more Kakashi.**

 **xxx**

Today was really not Kakashi's day.

His kick connected with Mikoto's arm guards hard enough to send her flying back, straight into the second layer of his attack: a neatly executed _doton_ jutsu intended to pierce right through her armor. She avoided the blow only by grace of her quick reflexes and his unwillingness to actually kill a brand-new mentor, but she would surely have fallen for the third layer of his attack if –

If he'd actually had the chakra left to execute it.

Mikoto bared her teeth somewhere in between grin and sneer. With a twist of her wrist, the metal wire caught up in the trees around them snapped loose and threatened to encircle him from all sides. Her chakra flared and fire followed it, catching on the wire as though it was covered in candle wax. The only way out was down, down, down, digging through the earth with his new headhunter jutsu to avoid certain fiery death above.

He came up where he predicted her to be and reached for her ankle, but once again the sharingan allowed Mikoto to respond in time and very nearly kick his head in in the process. Instinct and Obito saved him as he sacrificed his left hand to catch the blow instead – better to snap a few fingers than the skull – and he rolled back onto his feet.

His left hand ached abominably as they exchanged more blows and he was fairly sure his legs were shaking, but he wasn't about to give up – until one of Mikoto's fists slipped through his defense and hit his nose like a hammer. The blow was strong enough to throw him off his feet entirely and onto his back. His eyes teared up involuntarily even as blood began to gush from his nostrils, clogging up the mask. "Shit!"

Mikoto paused. "I broke it, didn't I? Hold on," she said, and stepped forward to cradle his nose between careful, thin fingers. Her touch was gentle for about two seconds, and then she snapped and twisted his nose back into place.

Kakashi yelped and stumbled out of her reach, still clutching at his nose, and glared up at her like a vengeful cat. "You could have warned me," he argued.

"That would only have made it hurt worse," Mikoto said, briefly glancing over her shoulder. Her sons seemed to be amusing themselves perfectly well at the sidelines; Kakashi was pretty sure he'd seen Sasuke's tiny fists go up triumphantly when his mother landed a good blow, but that must've been his imagination speaking. Itachi gave them a little wave.

Kakashi huffed. There was something particularly undignified about getting your ass kicked by someone while her children were cheering her on. He knew one thing for certain: he'd be a fool to ever look down on housewives again. "Why the hell did you ever retire?" He grumbled at Mikoto.

Mikoto gave her one of his rare smiles, the one that she usually seemed to save for her children. "Because fighting and being pregnant don't go together. I'll return to the field when I'm ready. As for you," she said, looking him over with a critical eye, "You did well. You almost got me with that earth ninjutsu."

"I wanted to follow it up with another attack. The more I can layer together, the less use your Sharingan is to you," Kakashi said as he sank down onto the grass while he waited for the flow of blood to stop. "Only…" He looked away.

"You couldn't," Mikoto guessed. "Not if you wanted to preserve your chakra." Her eyes narrowed and then darkened as she released her Sharingan. "The combination of using your eye and ninjutsu is very taxing for you, isn't it?"

Kakashi shrugged. He'd have thought that was obvious. "It's not about chakra control. I don't even have to think about using the Sharingan, it's just always there." He refused to say _my_ Sharingan. He wouldn't. "It's just draining my reserves too quickly. I can't choose how much chakra it takes from me."

Mikoto nodded. "And because it drains you constantly, it's hard to for you to gauge where your chakra levels are at and how much you can still use safely. Would you say the drain is always level, or exponential?"

"Exponential. The longer I have the eye open, the more it takes. Is that normal?"

"Not really. Not unless you use Sharingan-induced genjutsu or if you're engaged in intense hand-to-hand combat," she knelt next to him and pressed tissues between his hands. Then she gently peeled back his left eyelid and looked at the Sharingan.

"It seems a little inflamed," she said, and brushed her thumb across the damaged skin. "Judging by your scar, your original eye was completely destroyed, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Does it matter?"

"It does if the original injury also damaged your chakra coils. It was your teammate who performed the transplant, right? How would you estimate her level of attention to detail?" Mikoto asked.

"Intense," Kakashi said. "If there is any damage left, I'm sure she would have noticed." Not in the immediate aftermath perhaps, when her best friend lay dying beside them, but certainly during one of the many times in the following months where she checked her work over and over again to ensure it wouldn't hurt Kakashi somehow.

Mikoto looked thoughtful. "I suppose she isn't Minato's student without good reason. It could just be that this is how the Sharingan acts outside of an Uchiha body. As far as I know, you're the first person outside the clan to have one in over a century. There's no telling what the consequences might be, either for you or for the eye."

"That's comforting," Kakashi scowled.

She snorted. "It wasn't supposed to be. I'm a realist, and I think you are too. Isn't it better if I'm honest with you?" Her expression softened, and Kakashi's automatically followed.

"I guess," he said. "Still, this can't just be it. That the only way to improve is to work on my stamina and hope for the best." He wasn't sure why it was so easy to be open with Mikoto, but he found that confiding in her came easily. Too easily, perhaps.

"Why do you want to be stronger so badly? You're a jounin, and a good one at that – that already makes you stronger than most shinobi ever get to be. What is it you want to achieve here? Why join an organization as dangerous as ANBU? There is little place for ambition in our world," Mikoto said, getting back up and pulling him to his feet.

 _What do you want to achieve_? What _did_ he want to achieve? In the past he'd always wanted to get stronger for the sake of getting stronger. It was what Konoha expected of him, and what he expected of himself. How else would he ever surpass his father or redeem their family honor?

But things had changed since then. He had lost a friend and regained the memory of a loving parent. He had gained perspective. Family honor or strength for the sake of strength seemed like empty goals now. But…

He'd almost lost another friend, two months ago. A friend he had vowed to protect, not just for Obito's sake but also because some part of him wanted to preserve her smile. Rin was a force of good in a world that was far from kind. Even aside from how much her friendship had come to mean to him personally, that made her worth protecting.

And there were Minato, Kushina and their unborn child to think of, too. They were powerful enough that he couldn't fathom anything or anyone being strong enough to threaten them, but he had once thought the same of his father.

In truth, he was growing more sure every year that power didn't matter as much in the grand scheme of things as the world wanted him to believe. Bad things could happen to anyone at any time – power just provided one with the luxury to respond.

"Why do you want to go back into the field?" He asked softly, instead of answering. He looked at the two young children near the tree line. Little Itachi was singing something to his brother, who was steadily falling asleep.

Mikoto blinked and followed his gaze. "Oh. I think you already know why. I have a family to think of."

Kakashi nodded. "So do I."

Mikoto didn't reply but when she looked at him again there was a warmth in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Then, much to his consternation, she reached out and ruffled his hair.

xXx

Kakashi had been looking a little peaky as of late. Minato couldn't help but notice, when his student came to the mission desk later that day to pick up a simple C-rank. The clerk at the mission desk held out a mission scroll without hesitation, smiling pleasantly and wishing the boy good luck, but she didn't see the weary tilt of Kakashi's head or the way he cradled his hand close to his body.

Fortunately, Minato had a few minutes to spare for his first student. He smiled as he intercepted the mission scroll before Kakashi could take it, and flipped it over his shoulder back onto the desk. "I'm sorry, Sora-san, I'm going to have to borrow Kakashi for a few minutes. Please pass that mission on to someone else. We'll be right back!" He said, cheerfully ignoring Kakashi's impressive glare as he grabbed the boy's upper arm and pulled him along to his office.

"Hey – what are you doing?" Kakashi protested, even as Minato steered him in, unceremoniously picked him up, and sat him down on top of Minato's desk as though he was five years old all over again.

Minato held out a finger to silence his student. Bruising on the bridge of Kakashi's nose, and the boy still kept his left hand close to his chest. Minato took Kakashi's wrist and carefully but firmly pulled the injured hand towards himself.

As expected, it was bruised and swollen. Kakashi's pinky finger and ring finger were taped together in a makeshift splint.

Minato raised an eyebrow at his student. "Are they broken, or just sprained?"

"Sprained," Kakashi muttered, avoiding Minato's eyes.

"And how exactly would you have performed jutsu with sprained fingers?" Minato said, as sternly as he could manage. He didn't feel particularly angry, but he knew a good old-fashioned scolding was often surprisingly effective with Kakashi. And this… He looked back at the fingers caught in his hand, still so much smaller than his own, and was reminded of Kakashi's youth. Jounin or not, his first student was still a child, too.

"It was only a C-rank, I would hardly have needed jutsu," Kakashi said weakly, without much conviction.

Minato sighed. "And you were planning to leave without a team, too. You realize that your not officially being assigned to a team doesn't mean you can just run off on your own, right?"

"I am more than qualified –"

"Yes you are, under normal circumstances." Minato frowned and pushed Kakashi's head back, careful not to tug on his hair. "What happened to your nose?"

"… I broke it."

" _Honestly_ , Kakashi!"

"I just wanted a quick break, outside of the village!" Kakashi protested. "The mission is just to go to a nearby farm and kick a few bandits around, nothing too strenuous!"

Was this what parenthood would be like? "You're not going."

" _Sensei_."

" _No_. You'll just have to figure out a different way to vent your frustrations. I don't know who you've been sparring with, but I'm guessing it didn't go as you planned, did it?" Minato asked. He had known this boy for almost nine years and knew him almost as well as he knew Kushina – he knew how Kakashi's mind worked.

Kakashi flinched. "I just wanted a distraction," he said tersely. "Things haven't been going my way."

"Nor mine, but do you see me slipping away on secret little missions when I get frustrated?"

"I wouldn't know, what with you and Rin and Kushina-nee going on your secret training trips," Kakashi moped. "And Rin is usually too exhausted afterwards to tell me anything."

Minato felt a guilty start. It was true that he hadn't spent a lot of attention to Kakashi in a while – hadn't had the time, in between running the village and looking after Rin – and he suddenly realized he had no idea what Kakashi had been up to over the past month or so. He let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, you don't get to see as much of us as you usually do. I wish… Well, it doesn't matter what I wish for. You know this training with Rin is necessary –"

"I'm not _jealous_ ," Kakashi said, with all the indignation he could muster (which was quite a lot). "I figured out my own training regime. It's just not giving me the answers I was hoping for."

Minato blinked, and then smiled. Of course. Kakashi was always so independent. Of course he would figure out his own path without their involvement.

Kakashi misinterpreted his smile. "Forget it. I'll just keep going, maybe I'll figure something out eventually."

"No, no! I'm sorry – I wasn't smiling because you're not succeeding, I was smiling because of your show of initiative. You never cease to surprise me, Kakashi," Minato said, and reached out to ruffle Kakashi's hair.

Kakashi ducked out from underneath his hand with an angry hiss. "Why does everyone keep doing that?" He muttered, and then added, "Maybe you can help too. I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn some more fuinjutsu."

He said it the way most people might say "it wouldn't hurt to learn how to bake cookies" rather than one of the most complicated shinobi sciences there was, but that didn't make it a bad idea. In fact...

Minato tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I don't have a lot of time to spare but Rin won't need my involvement with her training for much longer. Kushina will be able to take care of everything after she's had the baby. We could make a start together, see whether you have an affinity for it," he said.

Judging by the way Kakashi's eye lit up, this was exactly what his student had been hoping for. "Really?"

"Sure. Although I'm not sure why you're insisting on doing it at the same time as whatever training regime you've got going right now –"

Kakashi pushed himself off Minato's desk. "Why not? If you're not going to assign me to a team I might as well use my time productively."

"Most kids would take up a hobby..."

"I'm not most kids."

"No," Minato sighed, "no, you're not."

There was a brief silence in which Kakashi stared out the window with a rather intense expression, his clever mind doubtlessly whirring away as he worked on whatever was giving him so much trouble.

"Hey, sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"Is there a sealing technique to improve chakra reserves?"

 _Ah_. "Well, fuinjutsu has almost limitless possibilities for those who truly understand it. Tsunade-hime, for example, can store away chakra into a seal on her body for later use…" Minato trailed off at the sight of the rather militant light that was starting to appear in his student's eye. He knew that look. One more word on the subject and Kakashi would go marching off to drag the legendary sannin back home himself.

Minato closed his mouth with a click. "Let's just start with the basics. We'll see where we go from there."

xXx

Jiraiya was still angry at Tsunade when one of his littlest toads came slithering out of a nearby drain and squeaked to draw his attention.

Jiraiya drew his gaze away from where it had been fixed on the next pebble he'd wanted to kick away, and then made a show of accidentally dropping his backpack near the drain. While shoving his belongings back in, he hooked his fingers around the toad's soggy little bottom and pushed it into his bag as well.

Still grumbling, he turned the corner and went up to his hotel room. The girl behind the bar gave him a pleasant smile, which at least improved his mood a little.

In his room, he carefully placed the backpack on his bed and opened it up so the little toad could hop out. It did so with a slightly disgruntled expression, and then proceeded to shake its little fist at him while squeaking angrily.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. I can't go around talking to toads when I don't want to be noticed though, can I?" Jiraiya said, dropping down onto the bed next to his summons." What is it?"

The toad produced a slim scroll from somewhere on its body (Jiraiya wasn't sure he wanted to know where) and tossed it at Jiraiya's face. Jiraiya caught it between thumb and index finger and shook his head as the angry little toad hopped away.

Jiraiya unrolled the scroll. It had been inscribed by one of his more intelligent summons, probably one of the bigger ones. It read, _Suspicions are correct_. _Pebble involved, but is wary of Pond._ Then, an a series of addresses near the edge of town. Pond, probably meaning Kiri, and Cumulus, meaning Kumo. Codenames through the perspective of a pint sized toad. Not exactly undecipherable, as far as codenames went.

Still, if Cumulus – dammit, _Kumo –_ was wary of Kiri it probably hadn't accepted their offer yet. The two villages hadn't clashed as often as some of the others due to the sheer distance between them, but that hardly meant they were just going to trust each other.

Which meant there was still an opportunity for Jiraiya to prevent the complete disaster that would be an alliance between the two.

He frowned and lay back onto the bed. How, though? He obviously couldn't go barging in on their meeting to kill them all. He could keep an eye on them through his toads or, if he was feeling particularly gutsy, by using his shadow techniques to get really close, but he couldn't influence their decisions himself. Not for the first time he wished he'd learned a couple of Yamanaka secrets, but those blond bastards were annoyingly secretive.

But if he could figure out who the Kumo agents were… All it would take was a weak link. He grinned to himself. Once upon a time he would have said Orochimaru was more suited for this kind of work, but by now he knew better. If you wanted to change people's minds, you had to first understand them. Jiraiya wasn't very good at understanding what people wanted from him, but he understood the base needs of a soldier far from home better than anyone.

He sat up and summoned one of his bigger toads (this one roughly the size of a cat). "Give Minato this note. He will understand," he said, and gave it the note he'd just received.

Once the toad had left, Jiraiya went to stand by the window. Well, if they weren't hiding away, they had to be out in the open. Obviously. His toads were busily searching the area, but there were quicker ways to find out whether there were other pockets of activity aside from the address he had gotten. Disguising himself with a simple camouflage jutsu that rendered him very nearly invisible, Jiraiya climbed out of the window and back onto the roof.

Gathering nature chakra was more difficult with his anger at Tsunade standing between him and tranquility, but he managed it in the end. He honed in on the largest chakra signatures he could find in the area (and tried not to notice that Tsunade's had conveniently disappeared) and decided that the most significant signatures were near the northern edge of town, just as his toad had suggested – which, fortunately for Jiraiya, also happened to be the red light district. At least it wouldn't be hard to disguise himself appropriately before going; after all, he knew exactly what kind of man would visit that area.

When infiltrating an area where you suspect a shinobi presence, it was always better to use a genuine wig-and-fake-moustache disguise. That made it much easier to properly suppress one's chakra and not leak any by accident. If they had a sensor –if they were clever, they did – the smallest of slip-ups could give him away.

Disguising his hair was always the most difficult part. He ended up slicking it back with a fragrant hair oil he had once bought in Fire Country's capital city, and then wrapped his pony tail up into a thick, messy bun. Next, he washed off his face paint (never tattoo your clan marks on, kids) and replaced it with a powder to make himself look a little bit paler and older. He added some blush to his nose, cheeks and ears for that hint of alcoholism, and silently apologized to his poor old mother for doing this to himself.

He couldn't do much about his physique other than padding his waistline with a few strategically placed pillows, which at least made him look more middle-aged and less force-based taijutsu user, and topped the whole look off with slightly oversized clothes which had the happy side effect of making him look smaller than he actually was.

Jiraiya looked at himself in the mirror and saw a forty something-year-old, paunchy merchant-class civvie with a taste for cheap booze. He grinned, put on a pair of flip-flops, donned a simple straw hat, and set off towards the red light district.

It was a good thing Minato hadn't come along. The poor boy would have blushed himself into an apoplexy five steps into the district, where neither the men or women seemed particularly inclined to cover up their chests. They were all rather pretty, if nothing else, and Jiraiya felt slightly sorry that he wouldn't be able to properly _enjoy_ their company.

He walked past the most popular, err, _bars,_ picked up a jug of saké at a stall, flirted just a little bit too loudly with two women, got himself slapped in the face and, uncorking the saké with a loud pop and boisterous laughter, knew that he had created the image of a bawdy, drunk tourist who didn't have enough money to _properly_ treat himself.

He settled himself in the back of one of the medium-priced establishments and even allowed one of the workers to sit with him even as he scanned the crowds in search of what he was looking for. The girl rolled her eyes and left when he didn't spend enough attention to her, so he took a large sip of the sake to strengthen the image of a man too inebriated to entertain company. The trickiest part was keeping his face slack even as he focused on analyzing the other patrons.

This would take time, in all likelihood. A stakeout was called a stakeout for a good reason. But he had his toads gathering information, and he had his own keen eyes and keener ears.

If there was anything to be found, he would find it.

xXx

 **AN:**

 **And so they're getting closer and closer to October 10th, the original date of the Kyuubi attack… What do you think? Will Madara be able to prepare Obito in time? A version of Obito who has no reason whatsoever to hate Konoha?**

 **Next chapter, it's finally September 15th, and we get an update on Obito.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: are you guys ready for that plot line I've been dangling in front of your noses?**

* * *

 **Chapter 8.**

* * *

On the morning of Kakashi's fourteenth birthday, Nohara Rin woke up to find Sanbi himself staring at her from between the bars of his primary seal. . Tepid water washed gently around her hands and knees. For a moment the haze of sleep kept her from realizing just what was going on. She gasped and scrambled away from him. her heart thundering in her throat.

She looked around for something that might help her, anything, and then finally noticed the great golden chains of the second seal wrapping around Sanbi's limbs. She was safe.

The great demon tilted his head. " _Nohara Rin_ ," it said, its voice more echo than sound.

Rin opened her mouth to say something, anything, but before she could the strange landscape around her disappeared into darkness.

She came to gasping, her body tangled in the sheets and covered in sweat. She struggled her way out and ran over to the small mirror by the table. Her eyes were a deep, bloody red. She blinked, startled, and then they were brown again.

Rin closed her eyes and forced a few long, deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Her seal wasn't broken, though. Sanbi was just where he was supposed to be.

But he had woken up properly at last.

Rin let out a last shuddering breath. She was in control. She looked back at the bed. Aside from the tangled sheets, it looked just as it normally did. She hadn't damaged anything or attacked anyone. It was fine.

She got showered and dressed and slowly turned her mind to the day's birthday celebration.

Kakashi wasn't up yet when she entered the kitchen, so she had all the time in the world for her preparations. First things first. Eggs.

She was happily frying away when Kakashi came out of his room, bleary-eyed and sniffing the air curiously. "What are you doing?" He asked. His voice still sounded a little nasal because of the broken nose, which also made his eyes bruised and painful, but in typical Kakashi fashion he had decided the previous day to be as blasé about his injuries as possible.

Rin whirled around and grinned. "Happy birthday!" She called out.

He stopped. "Oh, right. Thank you." He blinked. "Wait, are you making that for me?"

"Yup!"

"Huh. Thank you," Kakashi said, sounding genuinely surprised. "It smells good," he offered tentatively.

"You're welcome," Rin said, and turned back to her meal. He didn't have to know. This was his birthday. She wouldn't mar it with jinchuuriki things. She was fine.

Kakashi was quiet as she finished up their breakfast. Rin could feel his eye on her back as she worked.

"Is everything okay?" He asked quietly, when she placed the plates on the table.

"Sure! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your hands are shaking," Kakashi said, giving them a pointed look.

Rin looked down. He was right, they were shaking. She balled them into fists.

"Did you… Was it a bad nightmare?" Kakashi said. He sounded a little awkward, almost unsure of himself, as if he was navigating choppy waters.

Rin frowned and much to her shame, she could feel tears prickling in her eyes. "Something like that," she said, and quickly wiped the tears away. "I'll – I'll tell you later, okay? But right now, we should just celebrate your birthday. It's supposed to be a happy day."

Kakashi looked like he wanted to say something, but then he sighed. "All right. If that's what you want. But y'know. I have a birthday every year. If something's up with you… That's more important." He shrugged and tucked into his meal, careful not to meet her eyes.

Rin bit her lip. He would never have said such a thing even a year ago. He had changed as much as she had. "Kushina-nee and Minato sensei will be coming over after breakfast. Sensei obviously can't be here all day, but Kushina and I were thinking the three of us could go and do something fun. If you don't have any plans, of course," she said hesitantly.

He finally looked up from his meal. "What sort of things?"

Rin smiled. "We could go to the river. Or to the dog pound. Or maybe just the bookshop, or something. Whatever you like."

Kakashi's eye lit up. "My unbirthday party," he said, half question and half statement. "No crowded party or cakes or anything like that?"

"I can't promise you Kushina didn't make a cake…"

Kakashi sniffed and she could see he was smiling underneath the mask. "I'll survive the cake, although she'll probably put way too much sugar in. Thank you. It sounds… nice."

"I have a gift for you too. I'll go get it," Rin said, before she could back out or second-guess herself. She got up and ran over to her bedroom before Kakashi could say anything, her heart pounding. It had taken her a while to think of something, but she was sure – well, kind of sure – she had thought of the perfect thing. She pulled the gift out from underneath her bed where she had hidden it, quickly running a hand over the rectangular shape to see if the paper was still covering it properly, and then ran back.

Kakashi watched her with a slightly astonished expression as she came back, the gift hidden behind her back. She was fairly sure she was blushing. "So… I really hope you like this, but if you don't – I will –"

Screw waking up to massive bijuus staring at her, giving potentially sentimental or emotional gifts to people she cared about was the real struggle.

She thrust the gift in his direction." Happy fourteenth birthday, Kakashi!"

He gave her a look she could only interpret as bemused, and then took the package from her. He unwrapped it carefully, without ripping the paper or even crinkling the ribbon she'd put on. Then he lifted out the still sheathed, brand-new _tanto_ Rin had bought him.

His eye widened and for a moment he froze, staring at the dark sheath. He looked up at her, looked back down, and slowly, almost reverently, unsheathed the blade.

Kushina had helped Rin pick it out, once she had had the idea. "I thought perhaps you'd like one, since your old one, well. You always liked that blade so much. I know this one doesn't have the same kind of sentimental value, but I figured… I just thought you might like it," Rin said.

Kakashi still didn't say anything, but instead drew a few quick lines through the air with the blade. "It's a fine blade."

"Its chakra steel, so you can channel into it if you like. Kushina tried it, and if it's Kushina-resistant I figure it's pretty good," Rin added nervously.

Kakashi finally, finally met her eyes. "It's beautiful, Rin. I – how on earth did you afford this?"

Rin flushed." I may have had some help…" Kushina again, already opening her frog-themed wallets even as Rin had protested.

Kakashi barely seemed to hear her, though. He was still staring at the blade. "It's a good blade," he repeated, and looked back at her a little lost for words. "It's – yeah. Thank you. I love it."

Rin finally released her breath and smiled. "Oh, I'm so glad. I wasn't sure whether perhaps it would be too much, or that it would remind you of –" she looked down. "I didn't want to hurt you, but I just thought it would be fitting."

"It's perfect. And I don't…" Kakashi looked away, frowned, as if he was struggling with something. "Anyway, thank you. Seriously."

Rin beamed and sat back down at the table.

"You've gone through so much trouble for me," Kakashi muttered. "Not sure I deserve that." He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in a weird angle.

Rin shrugged. "You saved my life, and now you're letting me stay in your place. I'd say you deserve this and more," she said shyly.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. Rin smiled and looked down at her hands, feeling warm.

The two of them spent the rest of the morning looking over some of the sealing scrolls Minato sensei had given Kakashi as an early birthday present. They explained base-level fuinjutsu, and the bits Rin didn't understand Kakashi was already able to explain, even though he had only just gotten them. There was that particular light of interest written all over his face as he did, and Rin had no doubt he would move from these scrolls on to the next level in no time flat.

"So… What can you use these for?" She asked.

" You can create sealing scrolls, for example. They're like little pocket dimensions you can store items in, like weaponry," Kakashi said. "That will make it much easier for me to bring more weaponry or equipment. Or you could bring more medical supply."

Oh, right. Rin bit her lip. "Well, in the long run maybe."

He gave her a startled look. "Right! Yeah. For the long run. That works."

Rin smiled, his comment already forgiven. "I haven't even tried medical ninjutsu yet. Maybe it won't be as bad as everyone thinks."

Kakashi gave her a thoughtful look. "Well… We could try." He pointed at his bruised face.

Rin blinked. "I don't know…"

"Why not? And your room is sealed, right? Just in case."

Rin did have some control over her own chakra again. It wasn't like Sanbi would immediately jump out and destroy everything. "I'll try your fingers instead," she said, just in case. "They're still sprained, right? I think I'd better start easy."

Kakashi shrugged and nodded. "All right. Let's do that."

Rin's nerves played up again as they moved into her bedroom, but this time it was for entirely different reasons. Would it go well? Wouldn't she hurt him instead?

They sat down on the edge of her bed and Kakashi extended his injured hand towards her. The bruises had started to turn yellow and green with age, but his fingers were still sensitive and stiff and could do with some healing. Rin carefully cradled them between her hands. This, at least, was familiar, the feeling of a warm living body underneath her hands that required healing. She didn't need hand seals anymore for the mystic Palm technique, hadn't needed it for years, and so the green glow of chakra came to her easily.

What wasn't normal was that Kakashi hissed under his breath the moment her chakra touched his fingers. "Wha-"

Rin pulled her hands back like she'd burned them. "What's wrong?"

Kakashi hissed under his breath and turned his hand over with a curious gaze. The bruising had faded a little, but his skin was angry and red. "It feels like a burn…"

"Oh, no," Rin took him by his wrist and pulled him up. "You need to cool it with water. I'm so so –"

"Stop apologizing. I asked you to do it." Kakashi said, but he looked angry as he left her room and went to the bathroom to cool his skin. "It's not your fault. If anything, it's mine," he said, once he had his hand under the faucet.

Rin sagged against the door post. "It's not. I just can't use medical ninjutsu anymore," she said, resigned. "Not unless I can figure out a different way anyway."

She was in his blind spot, so Kakashi had to turn his head to look at her. "It's not a bad burn," he said.

Rin shook her head. She'd noticed as much. He was right, it wasn't technically her fault – if anyone was to blame, it was Kiri. That didn't stop her from feeling horrible

, though. She really was a jinchuuriki, and there was no avoiding it any longer.

"When I woke up this morning, I was in Sanbi's dimension," she blurted out. "Kushina warned me it might happen. It's like he's trying to communicate with me. I don't really know why, but… Things are never going to go back to normal, are they?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again as if swallowing whatever he had intended to say. Finally, he said," No. They're not."

Rin nodded, and then surprised herself by saying, "But different doesn't have to be worse."

Kakashi turned off the tap. "What are you thinking of?"

"I talked to Kurenai about learning genjutsu. And I've been working on ninjutsu with sensei and Kushina. So… I can learn different things."

The corners of Kakashi's eyes crinkled up. "We could train together for once." He looked down at his hurt hand and shook it. "I'm glad you didn't actually practice on my face," he said lightly.

Rin sniffed and smiled as the urge to cry finally faded. "We would have had a lot to explain when Kushina and sensei come over, but at least you'd finally have a reason to where the mask."

Kakashi snorted. "Sensei would probably blame it on me. He was kind of angry when he saw me like this." He pointed at his nose.

"Who _did_ break it?" Rin asked, no longer able to quell her curiosity.

"Uchiha Mikoto," Kakashi deadpanned, and for a moment Rin thought he was joking. Except he wasn't smiling, and he didn't joke very often. Which meant it could only be the truth.

"Ehh?" Rin said, intelligently.

Kakashi flushed. "I asked her for help with the Sharingan a few weeks ago. She agreed. We've been training together while you were off with sensei and Kushina."

"Huh." That explained a thing or two.

"I would have told you, except I don't think her husband is very happy about it," Kakashi shrugged.

Her husband, who Rin realized had been attending her trainings while his wife was off training Kakashi. The timing couldn't be a coincidence. "So… What is she like..?"

"Scary," Kakashi said eloquently. "Kushina would like her."

"Kushina does like her," Rin said in a small voice. "They are close friends. So… Chances are she and sensei already know about your training."

Kakashi's face went carefully blank. "Well. So much for secrecy."

"Did it _need_ to be secret?"

Kakashi groaned. "I guess it doesn't matter so much if they know about the training," he said, emphasizing the word training.

Rin frowned. What did he mean by that? And why was he training so much in the first place? He was always working hard, but two different training regimes at the same time? No, scratch that, three if you counted his new fuinjutsu lessons – as if he was preparing for something. Preparing for what?

"Just be careful not to overexert yourself," she said carefully, aware that it would probably fall on deaf ears.

"I won't," Kakashi said, stubbornness creeping into his voice. "I can take it."

He took out the blade Rin had given him again and held it up against the light. "Now I'll have even more to practice with," he said thoughtfully. "If I could somehow incorporate all of it into a single thing…"

Rin sighed. Some things would never change. "So long as you take a break today. It's your birthday, after all."

Kakashi's face did something complicated but then he sighed. "Okay, just this once."

When Kushina showed up a little while later, she practically knocked down the door in her enthusiasm. To Kakashi's consternation, she then grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Happy birthday! I do love birthdays. And look at you – already fourteen? You're getting so big already!" She cried out. She looked to be about one step away from actually squeezing his cheeks, so Kakashi escaped her grip by ducking out. Rin couldn't help but notice Kushina and Kakashi were almost the same height now. When had he grown so much?

Kushina didn't much mind his escape attempts and instead waltzed further into their little apartment to dump a large paper bag onto their little kitchen table. "And I come bringing gifts!" She said, beaming.

Frankly, she had a rather insane amount of gifts, including but not limited to, a large fluffy sweater Kakashi would probably never wear, judging by his facial expression; kitchen utensils, because "I know you love to cook" (which was the first Rin had ever heard of such a thing); a pouch of shiny new shuriken; and best of all, a lovely picture frame holding a picture of all of team Minato and Kushina, taken some three years ago on a previous birthday. This one Kakashi held for a long time, looking at the young faces staring back at him, before he smiled and thanked Kushina.

"Minato says sorry he couldn't come," Kushina said afterwards, with something of a nervous energy in her voice, "he'll try to make it later today, but… Well, if he doesn't, he'll make it up to you later."

"Is something wrong?" Rin asked, worried.

Kushina's face tightened. "We're not sure yet, but please don't worry about it. Minato has got it covered. Let's just have fun today, shall we? I brought cake!"

The cake was actually delicious for once, not as sickly sweet as Kushina sometimes made it, but it was harder to enjoy when they knew Minato or the village was at risk. _Something_ was up.

Afterwards, they went to the river where they all took off their boots and enjoyed the cold water around their toes. In a fit of boldness, Rin even showed off one of her new water jutsu, enjoying the expression on Kakashi's face as the water spiraled and danced around them. Naturally, he asked her to teach him but Kushina wouldn't have any of it. She activated a water jutsu of her own and made a tidal wave wash over the two of them, sending them spluttering and protesting into the stream.

Kushina grinned. "And you can't even take revenge, because you don't hurt pregnant ladies," she said smugly.

Rin and Kakashi sadly had to concede her point, and so they went to lie on the grass still sopping wet, hoping the sun would dry their clothes as they ate more of Kushina's cake.

The next stop was the dog pound, although Kakashi took some convincing that it wasn't childish or weird to visit. His concerns vanished in the face of one of the dogs who had recently given birth, and whose puppies immediately swarmed towards him as if recognizing an ally. He was covered in puppies before he knew it, and didn't even seem to notice when Kushina took pictures of him with her camera. Rin joined him quickly after, picking up puppies left and right and cuddling them.

Kushina dragged them to her favorite ramen place afterwards, and managed to eat even more than she usually did. "My theory is the kid loves ramen too," she grinned.

Kakashi muttered something about the Namikaze-Uzumaki family's future food bills, making Rin laugh, and then they were off again to the next activity Kushina had planned.

"This one's really good," she said, moving a little bit slower than before with her belly full of ramen and cake, "I promise you you'll like it."

Kakashi and Rin exchanged a bemused smile as Kushina very obviously led them in the direction of the Hokage tower. Sure, she took a few detours and a couple of turns that were probably supposed to be confusing, but the tower just kept getting closer and closer. She still threw out a bright "Tada!" when they reached it, so Rin at least tried to feign surprise.

"I know it's not really a gift, but Minato wants to be part of the celebration somehow. He's known you a long time, kid," Kushina said with a slightly sad smile, and tried to tap Kakashi's nose in what was probably supposed to be a fun little gesture, but what would actually be rather painful given that it was still broken.

Fortunately Rin could intercept Kushina just in time by taking her elbow and pulling her towards the tower. "So, what's the plan? More cake?" She smiled.

Kushina laughed awkwardly. "No, Minato vetoed more cake. We're just going upstairs, he has a gift for you."

"He already gave me the sealing scrolls," Kakashi frowned.

"There's more to life than just ninja gifts, kid," Kushina smiled.

Minato was already waiting for them when they reached his office, smiling widely and loudly congratulating Kakashi. He refrained from sweeping the boy into a hug, which was probably for the best, but did give him one of his patented hair ruffles. He got away with it. Just.

"I got you something I think you'll like. And, well, before he left Jiraiya sensei insisted I pass something on to you as well, though he says you're not allowed to open it until you get home," Minato said, with a faintly disapproving expression. He pulled two little packages from behind his back and held them out to Kakashi. They were both roughly the same shape and size, but where one was packed very neatly in wrapping paper the other was stuck together with duct tape and newspaper articles. It wasn't particularly hard to guess which one came from Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya-sama? Why would he give me something?" Kakashi asked, puzzled, as he started to unravel Minato's gift.

"I suppose he's taken an interest in you two, since you're my students. I just wish he would show it in a slightly different way," Minato said, his bright smile turning into a scowl. "Kakashi, if you want my advice… Burn that package without opening it."

"… Right," Kakashi said, eyeing the package suspiciously. Minato's gift turned out to be a book titled The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja, which came with a cover illustration of a shinobi who looked suspiciously like Minato. Kakashi turned it over in his hands. "Thanks. What's it about?"

"You'll see when you start reading," Minato smiled. "I think you'll like it. It's my personal favorite."

Kushina was still eyeing Jiraiya's package with the kind of suspicion she usually reserved for supermarket Ramen that claimed to be gourmet quality. "Minato… Don't tell me… It's one of _those_ –"

Minato went slightly pale. " _Hush_. I tried to stop him, but he'd find a way to give it to Kakashi anyway –"

"Weakling," Kushina hissed back.

"Look, he kept talking about how fourteen was the age at which certain things start to become more interesting and I thought perhaps he was right…"

"And _this_ is how you're going to introduce that topic to –"

Kakashi and Rin exchanged a look. Kakashi raised the suspicious package and said, "Can't I just open it now?"

"No!" Kushina and Minato chorused, with identical blushes.

Well.

Kakashi put the mystery package in one of his supply pouches with the kind of care usually reserved for explosives, never taking his eyes away from Minato and Kushina. "O-kay."

Their expressions immediately brightened. "Well! Now that that's out of the way –" Minato said, clapping his hands together, "Let's all –"

Chakra rushed into the center of the room like a vacuum, setting them all on alert. White smoke poofed to the room and left a cat-sized toad sitting on Minato's desk. "Minato! Minato, Minato! Big news – there's trouble up north!" It croaked frantically.

* * *

"I don't get it, I thought the war was finally ending," Kakashi said about an hour later, as he paced through Kushina's living room. He and Rin had escorted Kushina back home. She hadn't really physically needed it, but she was still looking a little pale with worry.

She'd probably look that way for however long it took for Minato to come back.

The toad had told them in no uncertain terms that whatever the hell Jiraiya was up to, it had somehow gone wrong. Through no fault of his own, apparently – all he'd done was discover a Kiri legion about five miles away from Fire Country's borders.

Which meant the entirety of Konoha was currently on alert.

Kakashi paced a little faster. Minato sensei had immediately alerted the jounin commander and the Council before taking his official guard platoon to go and meet with Jiraiya, somewhere in between the place of conflict and Konoha. The jounin commander had been less than helpful and told all three of them to go home until further notice.

So that's what they had done, even though Kakashi itched to join Minato and fight by his side, if need be.

Kushina's chakra wouldn't stop rolling. It filled the room entirely without her volition, buzzing away like background noise as her fingers clenched and unclenched around the hem of her dress. She certainly wouldn't be joining her husband at the front, not at eight months' pregnancy, but it wasn't for lack of motivation.

Rin, sweet reliable Rin, had made them all a cup of tea to help them calm down, an effort rather undermined by her own nervous energy. "I'm sure you'll be the first to know when he comes home, Kushina-nee," she said, her voice coming just a little bit quicker than it usually did. "So we'll know right away."

"But dammit, why did he leave without us? Aren't we team Minato?" Kakashi said, still caught up in his own train of thought. It was a rather dumb train of thought, really, but it was hard to be rational when someone you cared about was going off to face what was possibly an army in the company of about five other shinobi. Sure, Minato was strong as hell and Jiraiya would be there as well, but – but – what if it was an ambush? What if...

"Kakashi, you probably shouldn't be holding your new tanto when you pace," Rin pointed out.

Kakashi looked down in surprise. He hadn't even realized he'd drawn it. He sheathed it and then laid it sheath and all on the table to avoid further temptation. He needed to calm down and think rationally for when he was called to action. That would surely happen, wouldn't it?

Only, it occurred to him, if things went really wrong wherever Minato was.

They wouldn't send Rin, not with her incomplete training. They certainly wouldn't send Kushina. But he could go. He could –

A chakra signature flared behind them, and a masked officer dropped into the room. The room went quiet as the ANBU straightened up.

When he spoke, his voice was professional and clipped. "Kushina-sama, forgive me for intruding. Jounin Hatake, you are hereby required to join the jounin commander at HQ. You will be assigned a team when you get there. Please come prepared for a potential long-term mission."

The officer saluted, and disappeared.

And that was that. For a moment, nobody moved. Then Kakashi picked up his blade again and reattached it to his belt.

Kushina worked her way up to her feet with Rin's support. "I'll get you supplies," she muttered, even paler than before.

Rin just looked at him. "They're not going to send me, are they?" She asked softly.

She would have been, before. She would've been indispensable, as a highly skilled medic.

Kakashi shook his head slowly. "Probably not."

Rin's jaw shifted and clenched. "They're wrong."

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed. He blinked. "I'm sorry. I'll be back."

The last thing he saw on her face before he left to get the rest of his supplies was fierce determination.

* * *

Uchiha Obito had died a hundred times. He had died a hundred times, and would a hundred more. The cold, clammy hand planted across his forehead was still there, pushing thoughts away and implanting others. It hadn't moved from its position for as long as he could remember.

Uchiha Obito couldn't remember anything other than his name.

All that existed were the cold hand, the darkness, and two voices.

"The distraction is in place, Madara-sama," one of the voices said, the one Obito instinctively knew to be the subservient one.

"Good. Keep an eye on him. Take note of his ability." The second voice was always nearby. The second voice was always talking, speaking of events Obito knew he hadn't lived but could somehow, _somehow_ , remember.

He remembered great battlefields and a greater friend. He remembered a little brother, loved beyond reason. He remembered a stern voice always asking him for more.

He remembered that he was supposed to fight these memories. He remembered that he was Uchiha O – Uchiha –

He was Uchiha Obito- until he wasn't.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Let me know if you enjoyed it! I'd love to talk to people about this story.**

 **so obviously things are going to be a bit more serious from here on out. Let me know if you want me to warn you for specific themes.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9.**

* * *

Kakashi was really starting to regret staying up all night to read through Minato's scrolls. He hadn't told anyone – he had a reputation to maintain – and he hadn't fallen asleep at the riverside so no one at his birthday party had noticed – but he hadn't counted on being called into action on his birthday either.

Not that Konoha ordinarily took something as trivial as a birthday into account when it came to defending against unexpected crisis situations, but Kakashi was an idiot with a head full of cotton, a broken nose and bruised fingers who had forgotten that fundamental bit of information.

His brand-new commanding officer gave him an unimpressed look. "Well, you'll have to do. Don't fall asleep on the job," Uchiha Fugaku said, "or you'll get reassigned. I have no place for wastrels for my team."

He looked the type – all harsh lines and stern, dark eyes. Very unlike Mikoto but at the same time, exactly the same. He was just missing patch particular strain of warmth Mikoto reserved for her children.

Kakashi saluted. _Reluctantly_. The universe seemed determined to always keep an Uchiha within throwing distance. Perhaps it was the law of averages; the clan did tend to produce solid shinobi. Aside from Fugaku and himself the platoon was about ten men strong, with one other Uchiha, two Sarutobi and even an Akimichi. A couple of clan-less chunin made up the numbers, including two older kids he recognized as Genma and Raidou, dressed in their uniforms. Which was weird, when you were used to seeing them in shorts and colorful T-shirts. Even idiots had to grow up sometime.

As they started their march, Fugaku explained that Jiraiya had discovered some kind of Kiri plot near the Eastern border and discovered an enemy platoon hidden away in the forests just inside of Fire Country's borders. His presence had spooked them and apparently sent them careening straight into a small Konoha border patrol, who had been stupid enough to actually fight back. Cue nearby Kumo agents getting wind and revealing the presence of a much larger Kiri force stationed near the border so they themselves could get away to call up their own troops, preferring to weaken either of their enemies to taking on a badly planned, disadvantageous alliance against Konoha.

Cue Jiraiya and the small patrol team racing right the hell back to the nearest communication post because there was a _whole damn army on their doorsteps_.

Minato sensei had already reached the communication post by the latest reports and sent for reinforcements. Kiri had made use of the confusion to barricade themselves inside the remnants of Steam Village.

In short, it was an awkward, piping hot mess. What kind of commander would allow his people to get trapped in such a way?

"They want to keep Steam village," Minato explained a few hours later, when they reached the other Konoha troops. They had set up camp on top of a plateau next to Steam Village, allowing them to overlook the village and the towering barrier seals the Kiri shinobi had conjured up around it. They could even see the small Kumo camp on the other side of the village. Wisps of fog curled around the blood red chakra barriers and chilled the air.

The commanding officers gathered around Minato and Jiraiya, and Kakashi forced himself into a place by his teacher's side, ignoring the ugly look Fugaku sent him. Minato wouldn't send Kakashi away. So what if Kakashi abused his position a little? That was _politics_.

If you had a name and a network, you might as well use it.

"The Steam village has a strategic position due to its location and battle strength. If Kiri can hold it…" Minato shook his head. "It would be better for us for the village to stay neutral."

"Surely Kumo will fight by our side," one of the older troop commanders said. "They want Steam to remain neutral as well."

"And they're perfectly happy to let us do the heavy lifting," Jiraiya said grimly. "Kiri was trying to talk them into an alliance, but they obviously didn't take the bait. I guess they'd rather see the two of us beating each other up and taking losses without losing any of their own men."

No one mentioned that Konoha would very much like to see Kiri and Kumo do the same thing.

"So it's a stalemate," one commander said. "We're all stuck here waiting for someone to take action."

"Any chance of getting through those barriers?" Another commander asked.

Fugaku shook his head." Not unless we can take out whoever is casting them. The barriers are too strong to break through otherwise. I can locate the casters, but –"

"But they're probably inside the barriers," Minato finished grimly.

No one said anything for a little while. Then Jiraiya snorted. "Actually, I've got a solution for that – we'll just need a solid method of communication. If we could get someone in..."

"What are you thinking of?" Minato asked.

"Tsunade was staying in that town. I met her there about a week ago. I'm not sure she's still around, but if she is…" Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows. "She can take out the barriers from the inside out."

" _Tsunade-hime?_ " Minato said incredulously. "No one has seen her for ages. What was she doing here?"

Jiraiya pulled a face and took a moment longer to respond. "Gambling den. She likes 'em sleazy and illegal."

Fugaku scoffed. Some of the other commanding officers shifted uneasily. _Way to go, Senju Princess._

Minato sensei stayed quiet as he digested the message. "It would certainly be useful if she was in there, but we'll need confirmation. I'm not going to try sending someone in if she is not there."

Jiraiya nodded. "I'll figure it out, kid." He walked off with long, determined strides.

Kakashi's brain had stuck on the 'sending someone in' part and not let go. "Minato sensei, if I could walk into Kirigakure without too much trouble…" He whispered, when the other commanding officers had left to fulfill their own tasks.

Minato's shoulders dropped and he gave Kakashi a tired look. "Kakashi…"

"What? I'm the youngest person here. They won't suspect a kid looking for his parents, right?" The trick had worked often enough for them in the war. It would continue to work, until his damned voice decided to finally break properly and permanently.

"They're on guard. I doubt they're going to let anyone in, civilian or not. This plan of Jiraiya's is much riskier than I would like."

"What other options do we have? We can't just sit around and wait for this Tsunade to get her act together."

Minato sighed. "I'll consider it –" he held up a finger to silence Kakashi before he could say something, "– but first we'll explore different venues. I'm not risking your life on a bet."

Kakashi balled his fists, but nodded.

He left Minato to his maps as one of the officers returned, and walked over to the edge of the cliff. He sat down, allowing his legs to dangle off the edge. There were craters to the left of the Steam Village, deep gouges in the landscape like scars on a veteran's body. From above, Kakashi could see clearly the difference between the older, darker buildings in the village and the lighter, newer ones that had only recently been added. There was another crater in the village itself, wider than the ones just outside. Perhaps that was where the Kumo jinchuuriki had unleashed his terrifying power and started his rampage. The people of Steam Village had to be terrified of a repeat event.

It was hard to tell where the people of the village had gone. The barriers were thick enough that the streets of the village could have been packed with people without anyone outside the barrier noticing. He pushed his headband up and opened his left eye. Even with the Sharingan only the barrier casters were visible, as pale pink silhouettes in the deep red walls.

A small group of villagers was sitting just outside the barriers, locked out from their home and too scared of enemy shinobi hiding away to go anywhere else. Sitting ducks.

"What a mess, right? Wouldn't want to be in there right now." A voice piped up next to him. The smell of straw and oatmeal. Kakashi looked up and saw Genma, chewing on his straw (gross) and overlooking the village as well.

He dropped his headband back down and hummed.

"Dumb of them to not just retreat," Genma added. "I mean, what are they going to achieve here?"

"If they can hold it the village could serve as a strategic outpost and a base for gathering human resources," Kakashi said.

"Human – human resources? Oh come on, Hatake, you mean they'll recruit the kids? People aren't resources," Genma told him, kicking at Kakashi's thigh." Geez."

 _You're so cold_ , he heard Obito's voice say. Kakashi shivered. "I'm not saying that's how I think about people. It's just village politics."

"Yeah, but you can choose not to talk like those cold bastards, right?"

Hmm. Point to Genma. Kakashi pulled his knees up to his chest. "You asked a question. I just answered it."

Genma snorted. "Right." He tapped his foot a few times, then threw his hands up in the air. "Okay, but no – it still doesn't make sense. How is it a strategic position if we all know they're there?"

Kakashi shrugged. It seemed pretty obvious to him. "So long as they have those barriers no one is going to get in without their permission. In the meantime, Konoha and Kumo are forced to waste troops on keeping an eye out. We have no idea how many of them are in there. They could man it with five shinobi and have us waste fifty on trying to monitor them. Might give them a slight advantage somewhere else."

Genma whistled, low. "Cunning little bastards."

"They are one of the smallest of the major villages. They have to make do. Anyway, once they're in there they can just replace the casters every now and then and hold out indefinitely."

"Man, I need to learn barrier jutsu."

"Agreed."

Genma stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well, if you change your mind about being clever and broody over here, me and the boys have obtained some sausages. There's too many for us, so if you want one…" He shrugged, the very picture of nonchalance. "You know where to find us."

Kakashi turned wide eyes on him. He wasn't used to being invited.

Genma obviously read his surprise and grimaced. "I mean... If Obito liked you, right? You can't be all bad." He shrugged, then turned around and left before Kakashi could respond.

Kakashi let out a long breath. His left eye stung. _They don't like me, but they're still thinking of_ you, he thought. _So why the hell am I the one who –_

He stopped himself. That was a familiar road, and one he tried to avoid going down. That way lay nothing but trouble and ingratitude. _That crybaby idiot_... Okay, so maybe it would have been nice to have Rin by his side after all. Then they would have been invited without needing Obito as an excuse. People tended to accept him and Rin as a package deal.

He looked over his shoulder to where Genma sat. He and his friends had built a small campfire (because what was the point of subterfuge when their enemies already knew they were there?) and were loudly arguing about who was responsible for burning one of the sausages. The sausage in question was discarded and gratefully picked up by a hungry raven courageous enough to approach their camp.

He wasn't going to join them. Those boys were rowdy and wild and dumb and everything Kakashi didn't care for.

Kakashi's stomach grumbled. He quickly turned back and doggedly stared at the horizon. Traitor.

… Perhaps he'd join the boys after all.

* * *

The fighting started sometime during the night. Some of the Kiri shinobi had tried to sneak out under the cover of darkness, probably to get reinforcements, and ran straight into a Kumo patrol. Minato exited his tent sharp eyed and focused as the sound of battle reached them, along with the ghostly echoes of chakra being released.

Kakashi sat up and watched his teacher's tense form. He'd been dozing near the fire, unable to fall into a real sleep despite the numerous guards set up around the perimeter of the camp.

A deep pulse reached them, echoing between Kakashi's ribs. He stood up quickly. "That was a powerful jutsu," he told Minato.

Minato nodded. He was still watching the darkness below them. Every now and then, light flashed and illuminated the chaos of battle. "S-rank, I would say. They have a heavy hitter down there," he said, keeping his voice low.

Kakashi followed his gaze. "Do you think it's a…?"

Minato looked at him sharply. "Probably not," he cut Kakashi off **.** "I doubt you'll find someone like that thrown into a mess like this. They are hardly ever suited for close combat with many allies around."

Because they tend to attack anyone in sight, Kakashi silently added. "Someone strong, then."

Jiraiya appeared next to Minato as silently as an owl descending on its prey. "I have your confirmation. She's still in there, and mightily annoyed. I couldn't get my toad to convey a lot of information, but I think she got the message. "

Minato nodded curtly. "But she's not exactly known for subtlety. With her skill set, she won't just be able to sneak **up** on them and – except she could, couldn't she? If she uses a chakra scalpel..."

Jiraiya grinned, his teeth glinting in the light of the campfire. "You've got the idea. Problem is that she doesn't know where the barrier casters are holed up. She can't tell from in there, and I don't want to risk outing her by sending more frogs. There's only so many of those a lady can receive in her hotel room before people start noticing."

This seemed to Kakashi like the ideal time to go up to his teacher and give him a meaningful look.

Minato scowled. "Kakashi, no."

"Sensei, yes. You know it's the only way."

Jiraiya looked from Kakashi to Minato. "What's the squirt talking about?"

"I'm not a squi-"

"He wants to go in to share our Intel with Tsunade."

"If I just pretend I'm part of that little group just outside the barriers – I could say I'm a genin, so I need to be inside the village –" Kakashi blurted out. "That will work, right? If I can get some of the others to join me, I won't stand out. Besides, I can use the Sharingan to memorize the location of the barrier casters."

"Not as a genin, they keep close records of their shinobi. Go as a civilian and they won't pay as much notice," Jiraiya said, shaking his head.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato hissed.

"The idea has merit," Jiraiya said, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "You'll need a good excuse to get in, but once you have you can find Tsunade and she will do the rest. Once the barriers are down, we can do whatever we like. No more stalemate."

"The villagers will need food," Kakashi pointed out. "They didn't have any time to stock up."

Jiraiya grinned. "There we have that little genius brain of yours coming out to play," he rumbled.

Minato still looked worried. "I don't like it. I see the merit of it, but I don't like it."

"You'd agree to it if it was anyone else going in, wouldn't you?" Kakashi asked sharply.

Minato blinked. His lips thinned. "Yes," he admitted. "I would."

"He's a jounin, Minato. And he's experienced enough," Jiraiya said gently. "Besides, we don't have to put all our eggs in one basket. We can send out distractions."

"I can do this," Kakashi repeated.

Their little discussion had garnered some volume as the argument heated up, and some of the other commanding officers had come to join them. Fugaku eyed Kakashi up critically once they'd shared the plan. "It's not a bad idea," he finally said, destroying the last of Minato's reluctance.

Kakashi hadn't expected he'd ever feel grateful to _Fugaku_ , of all people, but right now he was so eager to contribute that he could have hugged the sour-faced Uchiha. Not that he would. That would only have been worth it if Obito had been there to laugh about it.

Minato finally nodded. "We'll have to disguise your eye and the scar, obviously. A chameleon jutsu, don't you think, sensei? And we'll need civilian clothes. No masks, Kakashi."

Kakashi scowled. Right. There was always something, wasn't there?

Once the plan was communicated to the other commanding officers, they went around to collect clothing articles from the other shinobi of the platoon. Kakashi ended up in Genma's spare shorts, of all things, and stripped his own navy and white shirt of all equipment so it resembled a normal T-shirt. He had to replace his comfortable shinobi sandals with an uncomfortable pair of traditional flip-flops. Losing the mask was the biggest sacrifice so he waited as long as he could to take it off, when only Minato, Jiraiya and Fugaku were still close enough to see his face. Someone else donated a rather lumpy backpack, stuffed with camping supplies as if he'd gone to visit a neighboring village for a week or so before returning.

"You're a civilian orphan who's not showing an awful lot of shinobi potential," Jiraiya fabricated, "so they won't be too surprised not to have you on record. Small shinobi villages like these tend to have largely undocumented civilian populations who are only tolerated for their commercial purposes. Your mom was probably a prostitute or something."

They all collectively ignored Minato's impressive blush.

"Her colleagues are taking care of you now and are waiting for you to come back. Tsunade is in the red light district so you'll have an excuse to go there. The reason they'll let you in is because you've seen a Konoha patrol on your way through the surrounding forest. They let you go because you're just a civilian, but now you have their location. And above else, for God's sake – don't use your real name," Jiraiya finished.

Kakashi scowled at him. " _Obviously_."

Minato pushed past Jiraiya and placed gentle hands on Kakashi's shoulders. "If they catch you, do whatever you have to to stay alive. There's not an awful lot you can tell them that they don't already know," he said, and Kakashi only now noticed how pale he looked. "Keep an eye out for that S-rank jutsu user. If you can identify them, all the better. But keep your distance."

He wanted to argue, _I know Konoha has a second jinchuuriki now, and I know where you live and just who your wife is. I'm not a kid anymore, sensei – much as you would like me to be._ He didn't say any of it. This was their best shot at breaking the stalemate. He wouldn't get caught. If he was, he would die before speaking.

"I won't give them anything," he said, more for the benefit of the other officers than Minato's.

Minato met his eyes. Even in the dark, his irises were still remarkably blue. "Watch your back," he finally said, as if he'd mulled over several options before choosing this one.

 _Like they can't already tell you're compromised when it comes to me, sensei_ , Kakashi thought, and pushed down the fear that rose up alongside it.

Minato nodded. "You'll go tomorrow evening."

* * *

The worst part was always the waiting.

Rin sent a torrent of water smashing into one of the dummies. It gave a satisfying crunch as part of the shoulder came flying off. Rin tightened her control over the torrent, instead of releasing it, made it spiral around the dummy and then drilled it into its chest. The dummy's footing broke with a horrible shriek and the whole thing went flying several feet into the air.

"I might have to rethink what I said about you being such a nice girl," Kushina said weakly, from behind Rin. "Did it help, at least?"

Rin resisted the urge to growl. At first they'd stayed in the apartment, but Kushina could only take so much of Rin's pacing before she'd suggested they go to the underground training field. Kushina would be able to stop her, if necessary. "We don't need those boys for this," she had said.

That much was true. Rin did feel a little bit better. There was something very satisfying about channeling her anger into destructive jutsu and destroying things. She formed another seal and water came rushing back up, circling around her body before flashing towards another target.

"You're getting faster," Kushina said. She sounded pleased.

Rin nodded. The only downside was that her anger pleased Sanbi as well. She could feel him watching her, alerted by her fury. Waiting for the opportunity to strike. The thought of that happening only made her angrier. "It's just – they should have let me come," she said.

"You know why they didn't, sweetheart," Kushina said gently.

"I know. I know. But it's not right, is it? If they're going to use me – why not now? Use me like – like – like they've always used us," Rin said. There was a lump in her throat again.

"Oh, _Rin_. Minato just wants to protect you."

"I _know_. I don't even know who I'm angry at. Maybe it's him, or maybe it's me, or maybe it's this stupid, evil, horrible _thing_ inside me that I'm angry at, because now I can't do anything, I can't help anyone, I might as well be _useless –"_

"You're not useless. You could never be useless."

"What am I, then?" Rin said, turning around to face Kushina. Her eyes burned with tears. "Some fancy new accessory for Konoha to hold onto? I can't heal anyone and I'm not allowed to fight because it's too dangerous."

Kushina's face softened. "Would you say I'm useless? Just because I'm bound to the village?"

Rin stopped in her tracks. Her arms dropped to her sides. "I – no. Of course not. But that's different, you're..."

"A jinchuuriki, just like you. Trust me, I get it." Kushina stood up with some difficulty, cradling her massive belly between her hands. She crossed the distance between them a little bit slower than she usually did. "It's agony, every time they go out to fight and I'm stuck here. But it's not always like that – they don't always hold us back. Do you know what we are? You and I?"

Rin shook her head.

"We are Konoha's secret weapons. We come out when the going gets tough." She placed her hands on Rin's shoulders. "And we are the furthest thing from useless."

She nodded at the destroyed dummies. "But you? You're still training. And I'm guessing Sanbi is enjoying all of this a little bit too much."

Rin dropped her head. "He's not… Laughing, or anything. He's just…"

Kushina's jaw clenched and unclenched. "Enjoying himself," she finished. "Twirling his giant evil mustache."

Rin snorted at the mental image, but it didn't change her mood. "He'll come out if I keep going like this, won't he?"

"Yes. He will."

Rin's shoulders drooped as her anger slowly washed away. Even though Kushina was right there beside her, she felt horribly alone. For the first time in years, she wanted her mother again.

"Rin, sweetheart, you said 'use us'. Is that how you feel?" Kushina asked, gently lifting Rin's chin so they could see eye to eye.

Rin shrugged. "We've been weapons for years, even though we're just kids. The village never asks us what we want to do. And now I'm a jinchuuriki, and... I'll have even less for choice."

"What do you want to do?"

"...I wanted to be a doctor. A proper one, not just a field medic," Rin carefully admitted. "But you still need to be capable of medical ninjutsu. I...I can't do that anymore. Kakashi and I, we tried this morning. His finger. But I didn't fix it, I just burned his skin."

Kushina was still looking at her with those big, worried eyes. It seemed almost impossible that those eyes could look so warm, even though they were a cool dark gray.

"At least before I could have chosen to retire and become a civilian. Minato sensei would have accepted it. I don't mind being a shinobi. It's what I know. It's what I'm good at. But now I don't have a choice anymore. I liked having a choice," Rin said.

Kushina hugged her. She was so quick Rin didn't even see it coming. Hugging was a little awkward with the big pregnant belly between them, but it felt awfully good. Kushina stroked her hair.

"You're okay, baby. I know how it feels. It seems like losing control over your own life, but there are still things you can decide for yourself," Kushina said. "Even if it's just the small things. I still go on missions, and I am free to pick my friends. I'm free to pick my hobbies. I'm even going to have a baby, because I wanted one. It's true the village isn't going to give you as much freedom as anyone else, but I want you to remember that there's joy to be found in responsibility."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there are going to be people relying on you for their safety. They might not know it, but you do. The Hokage does. Anyone of importance in this village will be aware of what you're doing for them."

"But not yet."

"No, not yet. But then you're only thirteen years old. No one expected Minato to protect the entire village when he was fourteen. You're not expecting it of Kakashi either, even though you and I both know that silly boy is going to go places when he grows up," Kushina smiled and tapped Rin's nose. "Give yourself time to grow into this new Rin. It won't always be easy, but then that's just what life is like. There's no telling what your future will look like."

Rin smiled back through her tears. "Thank you."

Kushina nodded firmly. "All right. Now, I had also bought ice cream for our little birthday party but seeing as the birthday boy has escaped our clutches we're going to have to eat it ourselves. And then tomorrow…" Her face grew more serious. "Tomorrow we start the next phase of your training."

* * *

 **Did I mention I love Kushina? I think this might be the first time I've written a mother figure and it's really fun.**


	10. Chapter 10

**This chapter is sadly devoid of Rin, as I need to set a few things up...**

 **Chapter 10.**

* * *

The chameleon jutsu rippled across Kakashi's face from the top of his crown, dyeing his hair a pale, curly brown and turning his left eye as dark as his right.

"Don't you just love that other villages don't have doujutsu?" Jiraiya smirked." This should stand up to any genjutsu checks they can throw at you, and it won't dissipate as soon as a _henge_. Just stay within the village and you'll be within my range."

Kakashi nodded and swallowed past the lump in his throat. It was nearing 8PM, and the forest around the village had been quiet for several hours. Kakashi had been awake since five. He was way too amped up.

He felt a little awkward in his borrowed clothes, so he tried out a few quick jumps and maneuvers to familiarize himself with the weight and feel of them. He'd promised Genma to bring the shorts back in one piece, which seemed like a rather ludicrous promise to make in the grand scheme of things, but he intended to keep his word. He was more reluctant to leave Rin's gift behind, but Minato-sensei promised he would look after the blade.

Minato was no longer showing his nerves. At some point during the night, as they gathered the items Kakashi needed, something in his eyes had simply closed off and the worried mentor once more became the collected Hokage. He kept vigil even as everyone else slept, and Kakashi could see fellow shinobi visibly perk up if Minato so much as looked at them. It wasn't that he didn't care or didn't worry, Kakashi thought, he just pretended everything would work out just fine until everyone else believed him.

When the time came to leave, a couple of shinobi gave him encouraging nods and one or two even patted him on the shoulder. Even Genma managed a smile. It was weirdly encouraging.

He had to take a detour so he could approach the village from a logical direction, backtracking all the way around the forest to approach the village from a northern direction. He was finally alone, and suddenly every shadow resembled a shinobi, every smell became suspicious.

He focused on his breathing, and then pushed his chakra all the way down. He felt horribly blind without it. If there were scouts in the trees around him, he couldn't tell. It even weakened his sense of smell, which was worse than anything. Add the fact that he had to keep his left eye closed underneath the chameleon jutsu for a lower chakra output, and all he had to go on were his right eye, his ears, and a much weaker sense of smell than he was used to. It would be so easy for someone to sneak up on him…He swallowed down the urge to vomit.

The first people to visibly notice him were the civilians camping just outside the village. They called out warnings as he left the tree line and entered the pasture surrounding the village. He allowed himself to visibly falter and stare up at the great barrier dome blocking 'his' village from view. He counted the seconds. After half a minute, he started towards the group again, slightly faster than before.

They didn't recognize him, but they still reached out their arms. "Go, you foolish boy! It isn't safe!" One of them even said.

Kakashi thought of Gai's exuberant personality, rapidly rehearsed his fake background story, and abandoned all dignity.

"What's going on? There were shinobi in the forest – what is that thing?" He called out, and pointed at the barriers.

"Hush, they'll hear you –"

"Shinobi in the forest? Oh, there really is no way out..."

"Hush, Kaede –"

"it's like a siege. There's armies everywhere. They won't let us in," the woman said, raising her voice above the din.

"What you mean? They can't just leave us out here. That's our home," Kakashi said, his voice high.

"What's your name, boy?"

"I – oh, it's Kazuki. Shiba Kazuki. I live up on Thrush Street?" Kakashi said.

The speaker, a large man in his fifties, pushed through the crowd and put an arm around Kakashi shoulders. "Come on, you can help. Did you really see shinobi?" He asked, pulling Kakashi towards the barrier.

"I – yeah. I did. Just a few minutes ago."

"Perfect," the man said, and turned towards the barrier. "Hello? Jounin-san? Please excuse me – only there's a boy here who has information for you. Maybe… Maybe you'll finally let us in?"

 _Thank you, old man!_

It was briefly quiet. Then a female voice said, "What kind of information?"

"He says he's seen a Konoha patrol. It was Konoha, right?"

"Yeah, yeah – definitely. They have the swirly symbol and everything," Kakashi nodded excitedly. "That's them, right?"

Another silence. "When did you see them?" The woman, no, the _jounin_ , asked.

"Just a few minutes ago. I guess they didn't see me – or maybe I just don't matter enough," Kakashi said indignantly. "I'll tell you where if you just let me in."

"Tell us where they are," the voice said from the other side of the barrier.

"Nah-ah, not until you let me in," Kakashi said, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder. "I'm a sitting duck out here. I don't want to die."

Someone scoffed on the other side of the barrier. "Little street rat. Alright. Just you."

"Hey, that's not fair!" The man shouted, and the other civilians raised their voices as well to show their support.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said, effecting a nervous tremor in his voice as a door appeared in the barrier. "I'm so sorry. I'll try to convince them, I will –"

An arm reached out from inside the barrier and snatched him by the back of the shirt. The collar caught on his throat and Kakashi had to fight every instinct he had not to save himself from the awkward chokehold. The grip loosened and his momentum made him lose balance and fall to the floor. It was probably the least graceful thing he'd done in the past couple of years. Heat shimmered behind him as the barrier closed again.

"Well?" The woman from before snapped. She was tall, taller than him, with messy ginger hair that didn't quite cover her Steam headband. A local girl, already recruited by Kiri to do their bidding. They would probably murder her if she didn't listen.

But she was high-ranking, right? What kind of shinobi could have this kind of sway over her, if not whoever used that S-rank jutsu yesterday? And was that person once again within the barriers?

Kakashi swallowed. "Northeast by East," he said. "Near the old watchtower. I think they were checking it out," he said, grateful he had spotted the landmark earlier.

The woman stared him in the eyes. He didn't dare look away, but forced his eyes to flick side to side nervously. A civilian wouldn't dare look her in the eyes. Not when she could kill them with a single move.

"What did they look like? Any noticeable details?" She asked.

Kakashi frowned. "One of them had dogs. I think they saw me." Give her just enough detail...

"Dogs?" The woman frowned and exchanged a look with a Kiri shinobi. "Inuzuka."

The other shinobi nodded.

"Anything else?" The woman asked, shaking him.

"No, no I'm so sorry –"

"Enough _whining._ Where do you live?"

Kakashi told her.

She grimaced and spat on the floor. "Disgusting little rat. Go on then. You should be grateful you saw those shinobi – scum like you doesn't deserve the kind of mercy I'm showing you."

 _This must be a cheerful place to live_ , Kakashi thought. One half of the population despises the other. He nodded frantically and ran away as quickly as a civilian would be capable of (which was much, much slower than he would have liked to go). There was a good chance they would shadow him, if they had the resources.

 _This is too easy._

The village itself had probably been quite pretty before the jinchuuriki attack, with lots of trees and light, welcoming shops. The buildings were old and the paint slightly cracked, but everything seemed to be well-maintained otherwise. What the people lacked in funds, they had made up for with attention to detail.

Except that the people were all holed up in their houses. Shinobi loitered in the streets, yes, with that inexplicable air of soldiers expecting an attack, but the civilians had all fled into their houses where they hid away, breathlessly waiting for what came next.

The shinobi were mostly Kiri, with their cool coloring and filed teeth. Kakashi could see Steam shinobi curled up in corners, bleeding or dead already. Cowed into submission. The ones who hadn't been killed or injured had probably been taken captive or, like the jounin near the gate, drafted into the Kiri forces on pain of death – or more likely, the deaths of their families.

Kiri was holding the entire village hostage.

Kakashi moved as quickly as he dared, avoiding the main street. He got lost once or twice (Jiraiya's map was not as accurate as either of them would have liked) but fortunately escaped the notice of the Kiri shinobi. He would miss the anonymity of being a kid, if he survived long enough to grow up. No way they would have let him in if he'd been an adult, disguise or not.

The downside was that he could only guess at the shinobi's power levels. Normally you could tell a lot from someone's chakra, but with his own clamped down hard he couldn't sense anything. All he had to go by was posture and how people responded to each other. Some tough-looking guy defers to a narrow-chested, bespectacled boy? The boy is probably stronger.

He probably shouldn't have been so surprised that the red light district was more crowded than the other areas of the city. It also seemed to be the only place where people were still capable of smiling and laughing. They weren't drunk – only an absolute idiot would get himself drunk under these circumstances, and probably get himself executed for his trouble, this being the village of the bloody mist – but they were enjoying the festival games and the sparsely clad men and women looking to profit from the situation. Kakashi had to look away several times, blushing furiously. He should have worn a blindfold. Or… Or not.

He decided to store that thought for later.

He found Tsunade's address or without too much difficulty, after that. It was a hotel, but such a bad one that he could slip past reception without being noticed. There was really only one problem that he could think of, when he reached the door of her room: he wasn't the first to get there.

A girl of perhaps sixteen blinked at him. She had large, black eyes and equally dark hair that framed her face in a slightly disheveled look. She could have passed for an Uchiha, if she hadn't been holding a tiny little pig. She dropped it when she saw him, visibly startled, and her fingers twitched towards her sleeves.

 _Shinobi_ Kakashi thought, and couldn't quite repress his own instinctual grab for a kunai.

Her eyes caught onto his fingers. Then she looked up at his face, studied it, narrowed her eyes… And probed at him with her chakra.

Oh, _shit –_

Only the vague feeling that he knew this girl from somewhere stopped him from trying to break her neck when she rushed forward and placed a hand over his mouth. "Keep quiet," she hissed, "and we might just survive this."

She released her hands long enough for him to mutter, "Katou Shizune, I'm guessing?"

"Yes, and I know who you are too – Jiraiya-sama warned us you would come. Come on," releasing him, she beckoned him towards the door and opened it. The air inside the room was stale and smelled of alcohol. The curtains were closed.

He grimaced. "Just how long have you guys been in here?"

"Oh, hush. You try being stuck inside the same room for days. Shishou? He's here." Shizune said, and let him around the corner where two beds stood.

Whatever Kakashi had expected of Senju Tsunade, it wasn't this. She was sitting – slouching – on the bed, one perfectly manicured hand wrapped around a sake bottle as she raised an eyebrow at him.

She was without a doubt one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She was also, without a doubt, one of the drunkest women he had ever seen. As introduction, she burped.

Shizune flinched.

"You're the brat, then?" Tsunade asked. "I thought you looked different. Broodier."

"I didn't realize that was a job requirement," Kakashi said, wary. Could this really be the first Hokage's granddaughter? One of the legendary Sannin? Developer of some kind of crazy genius body modification seal that he kind-of-sort-of-really wanted to steal?

She waved a hand dismissively. "Tch. You try to make a joke. Never mind – what is all this bullshit with the Kiri ninja? I was actually _enjoying_ myself for once."

"I'm _so_ sorry that the war interfered," Kakashi sneered.

The sake bottle snapped in Tsunade's grip, spilling alcohol and ceramics onto the bed. "What was that?"

"Shishou, please. This is important!" Shizune pleaded. "You are our best way of getting out of this. If you just take out the people who are casting the barrier –"

Tsunade flinched. "You don't know what you're asking of me."

"We're asking you to do your job for once," Kakashi said. Shizune glared at him.

Tsunade ground the last piece of the bottle into dust in her hand. She tilted her head, her amber eyes clouded but ever so deadly. "Oh? My _job_?"

Kakashi suspected that if they hadn't all been clamping down their chakra, her aura alone could have cracked the walls. His eyes flickered towards the diamond on her forehead. He swallowed. "It's important for the village."

"Is it? I don't see how it's going to make any difference whether this village belongs to Konoha or Kiri or no one at all."

Kakashi blinked. Was she for real? "It could decide the course of war," he said slowly, trying to appraise her response.

"War is war is war. Who cares who wins?" Tsunade shrugged.

Okay, that was it – screw her being the first Hokage's granddaughter – he was going to punch her at some point. "How can you say that? Don't you care?"

She let out a long sigh. "Kid, trust me – whoever wins, there's always going to be another war. It makes no damn difference in the long run."

"I wish you wouldn't say such things," Shizune said, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting down on the second bed.

Tsunade made a noise in the back of her throat and swiped the broken bottle of her covers. "Say what you like. I'm not killing anyone. I've done enough killing. Shizune, show him the door."

As they watched, Tsunade slinked off the bed, grabbed another bottle from the floor and lay back down, turning her back towards them.

Kakashi close his jaw with a click. "But –"

Shizune grabbed his arm and pulled him away. "Come on, there's no point while she's like this. We'll just have to think of something ourselves. I could knock something up to put them to sleep. That would work, right?"

Kakashi shot her a bewildered look. There was a look of resignation in her eyes, like she had fought this battle a hundred times before and lost every time. "But why is she...?"

Shizune pulled him into the bathroom. Aside from the usual assortment of bathroom supplies, it held a set of backpacks from which she pulled a remarkable number of pouches filled with herbs and medicine. "She's had a bad day. She's usually more sober than this. Don't take it personally."

"But she's supposed to be a _legend_."

"And what, legends can't be weak sometimes?" Shizune snapped.

Kakashi flinched and remember his father's blank eyes, how his arms had grown weak and thin in those last few months, how he had been so _quiet –_

Shizune grimaced. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Kakashi shook his head and looked away. He felt a little nauseous. Don't think about _that_ , he told himself. Stay in the present. Whatever he had just seen of the legendary Tsunade, she still had a loyal supporter in Shizune. That had to say _something_ about her as a person. "I guess you _do_ know who I am," he muttered.

Shizune nodded curtly. "Jiraiya-sama said they were sending Minato-sama's student. I remember seeing the two of you together, years ago."

"When did you leave the village?"

"When my uncle died. Ten years ago. He was Tsunade's fiancé."

Oh, _oh_.

Shizune caught his look and smiled faintly, bitterly. "She's been through a lot, you know. But she's always taking care of me."

"When she's not drunk," Kakashi muttered. He could understand pain, but that didn't mean he had to accept all of her coping methods.

Shizune's expression closed off. "Fine, be like that. Come on, I've got everything we need." She opened her dress far enough that she could put a small, thin pouch inside. "Blow darts and something that will put them to sleep. That should be enough, right?"

Kakashi nodded. Great job alienating another person, he thought to himself. "That will work. Let's go."

Shizune nodded. "I've come to know this town quite well. Just tell me where they are and I'll lead you there."

Their second track through the village was significantly sneakier than the first. With the setting sun deep shadows had fallen over the village, providing them with more cover. The Kiri shinobi were setting up to camp, lighting fires and reading houses for food.

As far as Kakashi knew, there were seven barrier casters in total, but taking out a single one would already be enough to destabilize the barrier. If they could take two or three, Kiri would struggle to get the barrier back up in time. Kakashi orientated himself by seeking out the Konoha camp with his eyes, so very far away from down here, and began to lead them towards where he knew the first caster to be.

Kakashi and Shizune had to stop and wait for a patrol to pass by several times, pressing themselves to the wall and hoping to whatever God was listening that they wouldn't be noticed. They set a good pace, despite everything – until they reached a small, innocuous looking clearing, where a team of shinobi had settled down around a campfire.

Kakashi made to sneak around but Shizune stopped him, shaking her head fiercely. "Wait," she whispered. "Look." She pointed.

And… There, slouched in their midst with the kind of confidence that came from knowing he was stronger than everyone else, sat a lanky masked figure with a head full of long, shaggy blond hair.

 _Kuriarare Kushimaru_ , Kakashi thought, cold fear curdling in his stomach. The reaper man, one of the deadliest of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, an absolute _butcher_ –

And one of the guys who had killed Gai's dad.

Kuriarare took a long swig from a flask. "– And you know, that was the end of that. You should've seen her face, she never saw me coming, HA!" He slapped his own thigh as he laughed, as if he didn't notice how his allies flinched away from him. As if he didn't have the lethal blade _Nuibari_ laid over his lap as he sharpened it with a whetstone. The blade was unnaturally long and thin, like its owner, and a glint of the light revealed metal wire was attached to the heft. It resembled a needle, and just thinking of what he used it for made Kakashi feel ill.

Kuriarare has his own bingo book entry. It read, _avoid at all cost_.

Kakashi snuck back behind the wall and took a deep breath. "Okay. That is a problem," he whispered back.

Shizune nodded furiously. "He's a sadist. He's also way too smart for us to just sneak past and knock the caster out without him noticing."

"Can we knock him out without anyone noticing?"

Shizune shook her head.

"All right. How about a distraction?"

"That might work. It might also get you killed," she hissed back.

"Then what do _you_ suggest?"

She hesitated. "We take out another target first. We don't have to go for this one specifically."

Kakashi mulled it over and nodded. They could warn Minato and the others about Kuriarare's presence the moment the barrier came down. "Let's go for the one at our nine. When he drops, the two nearest to him will probably come for us. It'll draw attention, but that's unavoidable."

"Will the barrier disappear immediately after we take him out?"

"Probably. A barrier this big can only be kept alive if everyone's chakra input is completely balanced. If one of them disappears entirely…" He mimicked an explosion with his right hand.

"I don't like that shishou isn't in on this. It'll be chaos the moment the barrier goes down."

"She's made her choice. We've made ours."

Shizune frowned. "That may be, but I will go back for her right away. You do what you like, but I won't just abandon her."

"It's hardly abandoning her," Kakashi scoffed. He checked the fireplace again. No one had moved since the last time he had looked. He beckoned Shizune and together they began to shuffle in the direction of their new target. "She's supposed to be a legend. As strong as the Hokage, right? Only the guy over there stands a chance against her." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder in Kuriarare's direction.

Shizune scowled. "You're not very good at comforting people, are you?" She muttered.

Kakashi shrugged. "Only stating the facts. Look, she can take care of herself, but I can't tell you what to do. Are you even officially a Konoha shinobi?"

"... Officially, yes. I'm not on active duty so they can't send me on missions."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. Tsunade must have done an awful lot of negotiating to get that settlement through. Any student of hers could be a hell of an asset to Konoha. It helped to have connections, he figured. Or maybe they did jobs on the side, like Jiraiya. His Intel gathering was the only thing that kept him from straying into rouge nin terrain.

His questions would have to wait though, because they were getting closer to their target. This caster was protected by a small group of shinobi, like the previous one, but at least there wasn't an S-rank psychopath camped in their midst. Shizune took charge and led him to an empty building near the barrier. She pulled a pin from her robes and rummaged around with the door lock until it swung open. They snuck in carefully, wary of any presences.

There was one window overlooking the caster, as Shizune had planned. As Kakashi watched, she pulled out a bottle with a light blue tincture and a couple of other items including a thin, long pipe and a matching arrow. She dipped it into the tincture with practiced movement. Her fingers didn't so much as tremble. Still deathly quiet, she crept over to the window and slid it open just far enough for the pipe to fit through. Her eyes narrowed. It would be a difficult angle. She didn't hesitate once. Her cheeks bellowed out as she fired the shot.

Underneath the chameleon jutsu, Kakashi's Sharingan slowed down the arrow's trajectory so he could follow it until it sank into the target's neck. Shizune and he grinned at each other.

The target slapped a hand against his neck as if swatting away a fly.

"We have two minutes," Shizune whispered, and they were off again.

Shizune, Kakashi realized, was _good_. She moved without sound even in her long robes and her chakra, even this close, felt like little more than a flicker of light within her. He would have been hard-pressed to mimic that level of chakra suppression even without the Sharingan buzzing away.

The second shot was more difficult. The caster was chatting to another shinobi whose back was blocking their view. Kakashi sniffed and held up a finger. He hesitated briefly before cutting his thumb and using the blood for a summoning jutsu. Pakkun seemed to sense his mood and didn't speak, only looking between his summoner and Shizune, frowning. Kakashi untied the little dog's coat and headband, stuffing them into a pocket. _Create a distraction_ , Kakashi signed. _No chakra_.

The nice thing about Pakkun was that he knew when not to ask questions. He only nodded, checked out their surroundings, and leapt away from their hiding spot. Kakashi lost sight of him briefly, but then one of the shinobi laughed and pointed and the little pug came waddling out of the shadows, tongue lolling and a blank expression on his face.

The shinobi who first noticed Pakkun was still smiling and got up to greet their little visitor. Pakkun wagged his tail. The shinobi crooned at him, drawing the attention of his colleagues. Kakashi clenched his jaw. A kunoichi crouched down next to his dog and started to scratch him behind the year. It would be so easy for her to reach out and...

Shizune's breath hitched. It was the only warning he got before he heard the hiss of her blow dart. He whirled back to see. At the same time a shout rose up from somewhere behind them. The direction of their first target.

The killing intent hit him and Shizune at exactly the same time. She blanched. His heart dropped to his stomach. Dammit, _but he should have brought his new blade –_

The barrier was down.

Kuriarare was on his way. Adrenaline kicked in.

Their second target was still staggering drunkenly when Shizune left their hiding space and went running for the streets towards her teacher. Kakashi backed himself up against the wall. Sensei would come soon. Sensei and everyone else –

"You really shouldn't have used that summoning jutsu," a cold voice said, right behind him.

Kakashi was on his feet instantly, but he was too slow. A large hand clamped over his skull and foreign chakra washed over him, dissipating the chameleon jutsu. Kakashi twisted his body at a painful angle to kick at the stranger's hand. The stranger cursed, then laughed, and oh – it was Kuriarare.

The demon butcher of the Mist. Well. Facing down monsters was starting to become a habit.

There was no point in hiding his chakra anymore, not with his hair silver again and his eyes in full view. He threw his hands together in a seal and sank through the floor with a well-timed headhunter jutsu. He landed in a crouch on the floor below. There was no time to check for strangers, so he just leapt for the window and out out out –

"Oh no you don't!" Kuriarare screeched, high-pitched and manic. "Let's play first, shall we?"

Something shiny and metal came flying at Kakashi from behind. He threw himself aside as the blade tore a line across his upper arm. Kuriarare followed, ridiculously fast, and all Kakashi could do was _run_.

The whole village was on alert by now. If he stood and fought, he'd be facing down not just Kuriarare but every damn mist ninja nearby. Kuriarare must have sensed his chakra when he summoned Pakkun and oh, he was such an _idiot_ , _really, Kakashi_?

But he could see his way out. Could see exactly where he could climb over the wall with minimal resistance, Obito's eye plotting out the quickest route for him to take. And he was fast too, fast enough for chidori and fighting Minato and certainly fast enough to stay ahead of some middle-aged mist asshole for a few minutes –

What he hadn't counted on was Shizune shouting in the distance. He turned his head to look over his shoulder just once, slowing down just a little bit – _don't get distracted, you absolute greenhorn_ – and then Kuriarare was on him, using his full body weight to bear him down. Kakashi hit the ground hard enough to slam all the air from his lungs. Kuriarare was huge and heavy and at least twice his size, pressing one hand to Kakashi's head and holding his right arm down with the other. The white mask loomed mere inches away from his own face. Killing intent pressed in on him from all sides, pushing and pulling and willing him to give into his terror.

"I know this face," Kuriarare hissed. "I know it. I know you. You're Konoha. You're – I saw you, but where? I saw you."

Kakashi could hardly breathe. He struggled against Kuriarare but there was no point, the other man was stronger. Kuriarare pushed the left side of his face against the ground so he couldn't use his Sharingan, he couldn't see –

He wasn't going to die like this. He refused. He called up lightning.

It danced across his skin in a myriad of light and shadow, screeching furiously and clawing at Kuriarare. Kuriarare flinched away, finally released him, hesitated –

Someone was roaring. An all-out, ferocious battle cry. More killing intent, but this he had felt before, this he recognized. Kakashi used Kuriarare's distraction to scramble right the hell away.

He'd barely made it to the other side of the courtyard when the world cracked apart. The impact threw him to the ground all over again but this, he didn't mind, because this was _Senju Tsunade_ , ripping the very village apart with her bare hands.

When he looked over his shoulder, he saw her standing in the middle of the crater, one fist still pressed to the broken earth. Angry chakra rolled off her in waves. Shizune was just behind her, watching.

Another flash of chakra, this one infinitely familiar. Kakashi grinned. Something yellow flashed at the edges of his vision.

Konoha had arrived, and Kiri could not answer them in time.

* * *

 **AN**

 **I love Tsunade. Or, as keepyourpantsongohan put it, "truly the vodka aunt Kakashi deserves."**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11.**

* * *

Sanbi didn't like Kushina. He didn't like Kushina _at all_.

They started the next training phase early in the morning, barely leaving them enough time to digest their breakfast. Kushina couldn't teleport them into the underground training area, but there were other ways, secret passages that she had shown Rin earlier.

Konoha's two resident jinchuuriki didn't need anyone else to get into their sanctuary.

"The thing is, bijuu are not just mindless beasts," Kushina said once they had arrived, sitting down with some difficulty and pointing Rin the floor before her. "They're monsters, but they can think. They can _reason_."

"Reason? To… What extent?" Rin asked, her heart in her throat.

Kushina's eyes turned hard and cold when she said, "Enough for our purposes." Then she closed them and locked her hands in an unfamiliar seal before her belly. Thick golden chains erupted from Kushina's back and locked them in a glowing cage, chiming like bells as they moved.

"You see, when the bijuu take over our bodies they damage us. If they go too far, we die. If we die, they die. So simple logic dictates they want to keep us alive," Kushina said, and oh, _this_ was the woman who had successfully chained the most powerful demon in existence to her soul.

Kushina didn't explain the chains, but they made Sanbi's restless rumbling go quiet. They made Rin go quiet too. In a world where chakra could make just about anything possible, these chains still seemed otherworldly. Foreign.

"What are they?" Rin asked softly.

"It's a genetic mutation, or a bloodline limit. It pops up in our family every couple of generations, and only ever in the women," Kushina said. The light from the chains reflected in her eyes and make them look like liquid gold. "Once you've mastered them, you can use them to seal anything you want. Or practically anything, anyway."

Rin couldn't quite hide her awe. "Your family... You mean the Uzumaki clan?"

"Yes. Mito-sama had this particular mutation as well. She called them the adamantine sealing chains."

"Sealing?"

A sad smile. "Yes. Guess why they picked me as Mito's successor?"

"Oh. But… That doesn't seem fair," Rin said slowly. "Were you the only one with... With this?"

"The first in sixty years," Kushina said. Her eyes softened at last and she gave Rin a wistful smile. "I first manifested them when I was six."

How relieved the clan must have been, Rin thought, to finally have someone to take over from the elderly Mito. And how terribly sad that that was all they ever valued Kushina for after. "That's when they decided to pick you," she said, knowing it to be true.

Kushina nodded. "Don't think too harshly of them. Someone had to do it. I was simply the most suitable candidate."

"It's still cold."

"So's the world. So is this village."

Rin must have looked confused, because Kushina chuckled. "You said it yourself, didn't you? Sometimes, the village just uses people. That's why Minato wanted to become Hokage. Not for fame or respect, but to change things. Even if it's just people's minds," she said.

Rin smiled back. "That's why he's a good Hokage."

Kushina gave her a fond look. "He tries to be."

Rin looked up again at the golden dome around them. "So… What is this for?" She asked.

"Just a precaution. I want you to feel safe enough to try something new."

"What kind of new thing?"

Kushina grinned wickedly. "How do you feel about poking giant monsters with a stick?"

Rin pulled a face that told Kushina exactly what she thought of that. Kushina laughed.

"Kushina-nee-san, are you telling me to poke Sanbi with a stick? Because that doesn't seem very wise," Rin said dryly. Her stomach flipped nervously.

"It's a metaphorical stick." Kushina clapped her hands together. "Close your eyes. Focus on your chakra. Imagine Sanbi doesn't pull in yours, but you pull in his. Imagine how it could feel."

It would feel like fire. Like chidori blazing through her chest, or a raging thunderstorm caught in her belly. But it would also feel like power. She met Kushina's eyes uncertainly. "I'm not sure I could handle that."

"You can handle more than you think. Look – being able to use his chakra at low risk? That's the endpoint for us. That's as good as it gets. That's what you're going to aim for," Kushina said, leaning forward and taking Rin's hands in her own. "You don't have to get there right away. But what we're about to do is the first step to achieving it."

"How? Is that even possible?" How could a human body hold that much power, that much energy, and not rip apart? It went against everything she knew about human anatomy – no, human endurance. "Can… Can you do it?"

Kushina grimaced. "Briefly. Kyuubi is… Well, difficult. I can get him to cooperate when he… Well, when he feels like having a good fight. But there's no way of knowing what Sanbi will be like. That's why you have to talk to him first."

Rin blanched. "Well. If _that's_ all."

"I'll be here by your side all the way. I will stop him from doing anything untoward like taking over your body and killing everyone."

"That's not very comforting," Rin said. Somehow, she managed to stop her voice from shaking. "I just – this isn't like Minato sensei's training at all. Wouldn't it be better for me to focus on what I can do without Sanbi?"

Kushina sighed. "Minato wanted you to know your limits, and see how far you could stretch them. I want to make sure you're prepared for what happens if you go past those limits."

"… Can I be?"

"Not completely. But more than you are now. If you can talk to him, you can make a deal. Ask him to give you some more space. Find out what he's made of, whether he's cooperative at all," Kushina said. She grimaced. "The thing is, this is the first time Sanbi has been Konoha's. We know nothing about him. There are no other jinchuuriki to inform you about his quirks and triggers. The only way we can find out is here, in a controlled environment. Trust me, it's better to lose control here than on the battlefield."

Rin dropped her head. "Losing control… Can you still tell, when he takes over? I mean, can you see what he does with your body? Do you remember how he…"

As a chunin with a fairly short war record, Rin had never seen a jinchuuriki in action. Not Kushina, nor anyone else. All she had were tales of bogeymen with chakra like acid or fire or lightning itself. Tales of great monsters ripping men to shreds on the battlefield, friend and foe alike. Jinchuuriki were monsters. Everyone knew that.

Rin had known it herself, until one day Minato sensei had set them down and told the truth about his lovely, kind, funny fiancée. It hadn't seemed real at first. It had felt like a lie, like something impossible and cruel. But then Kushina had continued to be sweet and kind and funny even as she confirmed Minato's confession, and slowly minutes of students had come around to the idea that perhaps jinchuuriki were as human as anyone else. Two weeks in and they had all but forgotten that there were reasons to fear Kushina other than Kushina getting hungry and not having access to food. Now, Rin wondered whether Kushina had been scared of their response. Whether she had perhaps feared their rejection. If she had, she hadn't shown up. Kushina really was unbearably brave.

And right now, she was looking at Rin was a distant expression on her face. "Sometimes, I remember things. The memories don't… They don't feel real, to be honest. It's like being stuck inside a glass bowl filled with water. You can't quite see clearly, and all sound is muffled and strange. You don't even feel angry anymore, at some point. You don't feel anything at all," she said softly. "Not until you wake up, anyway. That's the most difficult part."

Rin really, really didn't want to be a jinchuuriki. She really, really didn't want it. Damn Kirigakure. Damn Sanbi. And damn Kyuubi and Konoha too, for making Kushina suffer.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "And what we're about to do… It will make it less likely that I lose control?"

"That's the idea."

"Then let's do it."

Which was how Rin figured out that her own warm feelings towards Kushina didn't exactly transfer over to Sanbi.

She closed her eyes to enter that strange, otherworldly place where her bijuu was kept with Kushina's encouragement. She fought thoughts of mind control and hurting friends, but Kushina's steady voice told her to breathe through it – so she did.

Sanbi gave a great rattling roar when he saw her, his huge maw spread open wide. He looked strange out of the shadows, huge armor plating covering his skull and body, a single glowing eye staring out from underneath a heavily ridged brow.

 _Nohara Rin_ , he rumbled and his voice was like a great waterfall thundering down upon her. _Nohara Rin, why did you bring me that_ monster _?_

Rin struggled to breathe as her knees gave out and she splashed down into the water. It was almost uncomfortably warm. She couldn't bring herself to speak.

 _WELL?_ Sanbi roared.

"I – I didn't bring any monsters," Rin said, stumbling over the consonants.

 _Then what do you call that woman with her burning chains? Did you think I would not be able to sense him languishing inside her body?_

"Wha-" oh, Kushina. "You mean you can sense Kyuubi?"

 _Of course I can sense him, you dimwit! He is my brother, he burns like a furnace in my mind!_ Sanbi brought down a great, webbed foot, sending up a wave high enough to knock over Rin's head. She spluttered and coughed as it washed over her. The fact that the water wasn't real, that it was just another imagined effect of having Sanbi here, didn't make it feel any less like drowning.

"Your brother? You guys are brothers?" She said, when she regained her breath. Kakashi would probably say something like "talk about a complicated family tree", and pull a face when he realized he had just made a joke

 _I'm the one asking questions here, puny human. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN NEAR THAT WRETCHED CREATURE?_

Rin, in what had to be a trauma induced bout of stupidity, said "She's my friend."

 _WHAT?!_ Sanbi screeched, and sent up several more waves with his angry thrashing.

"You know my name," Rin said, voice shaking. "Surely you understand I'm a Konoha shinobi."

Sanbi reared back, his one eye widening. He watched her, completely silent all of a sudden, before arching his head towards her as closely as he could get before the chains of the seal could him back. _Kiri must have been very desperate this time around,_ he said. _Saiken will laugh at me for getting into trouble._

"Who?"

Sanbi snorted. _So now I'm stuck with ol' 'Kyuubi' for company so long as I'm with you_ , he drawled.

"I – yes?"

 _Oh, thanks. That's just what I needed._

"I – I didn't ask for this either." It probably said something about Rin's life that she could now genuinely say she'd spent time being annoyed by a massive, incredibly destructive chakra demon.

 _How many seals are there in here? This seems overkill._ Sanbi moved around, testing the chains wrapped around his limbs. They didn't give much.

"They wanted you to destroy Konoha. The seal had a timer on it so it would release when I got home."

 _That would have been fun. Pray tell me who derived me from this pleasure?_

"I don't think I should," Rin said, slowly shaking her head.

 _Well, WHY THE HELL NOT?_ Sanbi roared, all humor fleeing from his voice as he threw himself towards her. The chains holding him screeched mightily against the strain.

Rin flinched and scrambled away from him purely by instinct. Her heart pounded in her chest. "Because holding grudges isn't healthy," she heard herself say.

 _Healthy –_ healthy _? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU, KID? I AM A GODDAMN BIJUU! I CAN HOLD AS MANY GRUDGES AS I LIKE!_

Rin flinched and wished there was a place to hide. Sanbi's voice was terrible in its volume, each word rattling around in her head and making her ears ache with the force of it.

"That's enough of that," a clear voice said, and suddenly there were hands on her shoulders. Then she was looking into blood red eyes with slit pupils set in a familiar face. Kushina. It was Kushina.

"Kushina? How did you get here?" Rin stuttered.

Kushina grinned. "Because I'm magic like that. And because I convinced the old furball it would be a good idea. So, these are your digs, huh? Not much better than mine," she said, putting her hands in her sides and looking around before finding Sanbi and giving him a challenging look. As if she wasn't a nine-month pregnant lady facing down a bijuu with murder in her eyes. "You must be Sanbi. I've heard a lot about you."

Sanbi cocked his great head _. And you're Kurama's current girl, are you? Uzumaki._ He made a strange spitting noise and the water around them seemed to heat up around their ankles. _I can tell just from sensing your chakra._

"That's right, you big old – well, we can't call you furball," Kushina said, squinting a little. "How do you feel about 'shelly'?"

A beat.

 _I am not in favor_ , Sanbi said.

Rin gaped at Kushina. She closed her jaw with a click. Okay, this, even Kakashi would have been impressed with. Kushina had just… Schooled an actual bijuu. "Shelly," Rin copied weakly.

 _I shall not be called SHELLY!_ Sanbi roared, and threw his limbs around in rage, his massive tails swishing through the air above them.

"Well, you throw hissy fits like Kurama," Kushina commented, hands in her sides.

Rin blinked a few times. Right. This was actually happening. Okay. "Kushina-nee?"

"Yeah?"

"Uhm... The point of this little meeting?"

"Oh, right! Sanbi! You have a contract to sign!" Kushina cried out, planting her feet wide and waving her index finger in Sanbi's face.

Sanbi watched them, his one eye narrowed in suspicion. _Contract? I have no need of a contract_ , he said slowly.

"Yeah, you do. Think of it as signing a lease to your new house. You gotta agree with the new landlady on the rules."

Rin's eyebrows rose steadily on her forehead as it occurred to her that she was the landlady in question.

Sanbi looked puzzled. _I don't do contracts with... 'land-ladies'. Whatever those are_.

"Well, new village, new rules," Kushina shrugged. " 'Cause if you don't agree, I've got a tenant of my own who's pretty eager to show who's boss right about now."

Her voice grew colder as she spoke, and Rin looked back up at Kushina's eyes. Still blood red. Still very much not Kushina's own color. Right now, Kyuubi was silent witness to everything Kushina, Sanbi and Rin discussed. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. If Sanbi was a hurricane, Kyuubi was a meteorite about to crush the planet.

Sanbi moved his body back slowly, as far as the chains would let him, rumbling deep in his throat. _What kind of contract_?

"Rin?" Kushina looked at her now, smiling gently despite her terrifying eyes, and she was still Kushina, wasn't she? She was still Kushina, and she was horrifyingly in control.

Rin swallowed and forced herself to stand up. "I – I want to be safe," she said slowly. "I want you to promise… You won't try to – try to possess me while I'm in the village."

Sanbi hissed again, slow and angry.

"And I want to be able to use my own chakra when I want to use it," Rin added quickly, while she still had the courage.

 _You can use it, little girl_ , Sanbi hissed. _You just get some of mine in return. There's no escaping that_.

Rin swallowed down her anger. "I mean without you – your chakra hurting me. Or someone else."

Sanbi was quiet for a moment. Then he laughed, a horrible rasping laugh in the back of his throat. _You want to heal, don't you? I could tell from how soft your chakra is that you were a medic. You want to heal people. Well, guess what? That's not going to happen. It_ can't _happen. Oh, of all the Bijuu you could have gotten it just had to be me, didn't it?_

"What are you talking about?" Kushina asked sharply.

Sanbi brought his head closer and sounded almost gleeful when he spoke again. _Well, I'm corrosive, aren't I?_

A low fog rose across the water, painting the landscape pale and eerie. Rin looked down and hissed as the fog touched her skin. It didn't feel like vapor, it felt like _fire_.

 _I am water and steam, heat and poison,_ Sanbi hissed, _and you would melt a man's skin off before you would heal him._

"I figured," Rin said softly, ducking her head. "But that's not what I'm asking of you."

Sanbi reared back. The water around them stilled and the fog stopped progressing. _Then what do you want, little girl?_ He rumbled, some of the bite gone from his voice.

Rin looked up and met the great glowing eye without blinking. "if you promise to help me protect my people, I will let you fight."

* * *

Steam Village was having a rough couple of years, Kakashi thought as he pulled his mask back up, the scent of smoke and blood thick in his nostrils. Behind him, someone screamed and he turned around to see another Kiri shinobi being pushed to the ground, knife at her throat.

Barely twenty minutes of tightly controlled chaos had sufficed to see the Kiri shinobi off, caught as they were between Konoha and Kumo. The conflict had been brief but brutal.

"Heads up, kid," a gruff little voice said, and then Pakkun came leaping into Kakashi's arms. The pug pawed at Kakashi's arms to get them in the most desirable position, and then gave a satisfied yawn. "What a mess."

Kakashi hummed his agreement, still scanning the crowds. There wasn't any fighting left to do – there was something of an uneasy truce between their troops and Kumo's, and the remainder of Kiri's army were either already imprisoned or being taken care of. In the square where Kakashi had first seen Kuriarare, Fugaku knelt before an injured enemy soldier, quietly asking him questions even as his eyes blazed red.

Kakashi rolled his shoulder experimentally to test the joint. He grimaced. The pain was manageable, the injury probably not permanent or even particularly debilitating. If anything, it was just embarrassing that the older shinobi had gotten the drop on him so easily, S-rank terror or not.

He remembered being thrown to the ground, remembered Konoha's troops barreling through the barriers – not even all of their troops, that hadn't even been necessary with Kumo advancing on Kiri from the other side – and finally Kiri, retreating in a panic.

"Don't look so glum, you did good, kid," Jiraiya commented, walking towards them from across the street. "We got into the village and caused a nice bit of chaos, all things considered. Kiri knows it won't be able to hold onto Steam, now, and we got a pat on the back from Kumo out of it, too. They're as sick of war as we are."

Kakashi sniffed and looked across the town square, where Minato was talking to Tsunade and Shizune. Jiraiya had been throwing badly hidden glances in that direction as well, but Tsunade wasn't coming over. He had lost track of her in the chaos of the fight, which given her fighting style probably meant she'd left most of the work to her old teammate and Minato. Her presence, though, along with that of the Yellow Flash, had been enough of a statement in itself. It wasn't every day you had to face three living legends.

Tsunade looked pale. Even now her shoulders were tense and her eyes flicked around restlessly. Shizune refused to leave her side. Kakashi frowned, and wondered what the hell he was missing. There was something off about Tsunade, in the way that there had been something off about his father. It was one of those intangible things, something in the set of her back and the dullness in her eyes. Whatever else she was, Senju Tsunade was a troubled woman.

"They're taking off," Minato sighed, when he joined them. "Tsunade is tired of fighting." His face was drawn with exhaustion, his hair limp, and he kept tugging on his blood-soaked sleeve. It wasn't his blood – Kakashi had asked – but it seemed to pain him all the same.

Jiraiya grunted and looked down at his big hands. "Yeah, I know. I'll… I should talk to her. Fix things."

Minato gave him a fond smile, eyes filled with all sorts of things that made Kakashi feel like he was missing something important – again. "You should. You're still friends, after all."

Jiraiya gave his pupil a wan little smile. "Friends, yeah. And what a friend I've been to her. I should apologize. I'm just gonna –" he jabbed a thumb in Tsunade's direction, nodded to himself, and then got up and left.

Kakashi watched him go. "What am I missing here?"

Minato sighed. "About twenty years and a lot of unreciprocated feelings," he said dryly.

Kakashi turned back, surprised. " _Feelings_?"

Minato gave him a tired little laugh. "I'll tell you some other time, perhaps. Truth be told, it's not really any of your business," a cheeky smile, "But you were very brave today so I might make an exception for you."

Kakashi flushed. "It was fine."

"You won us the day, you and Tsunade's girl. People won't forget this. I won't, either," Minato said, and deliberately met Kakashi's eyes. "I should have trusted you from the start."

Kakashi looked away and shrugged. "Well, yeah. Whatever."

Minato smiled. "I'm serious. I suppose I still have to get used to the fact that you really are one of Konoha's _jounin_. You're as competent as anyone else in this camp, if not more so."

Kakashi didn't bother fighting the burst of warmth this evoked in him. He could almost imagine being eight again, on a mission with just Minato, the two of them against the world. Those missions had meant an escape from home, from reality. He had missed them. He had missed Minato, without even noticing. "I'm going to make sure you don't forget you said that," he mumbled.

Minato laughed. "Of course you are. I should've known better."

Kakashi smirked. "Damn right."

The fire crackled away. A cool breeze came rushing past them, sending a shiver down Kakashi's spine. Not long until autumn. Soon, Konoha's forests would be turning gold and orange and flame in the sunlight.

"I have an assignment for you," Minato said unexpectedly. "To prove my faith in you."

"Oh?"

"I want you to take my report of what happened here to the Eastern watchtower. I intend to stay here little bit longer."

"Wait – me? Not ANBU?"

Minato gave him a tired smile. "No. I'm trusting you to do it."

Pakkun started to snore. He had fallen asleep in Kakashi's arms.

"When do I leave?" Kakashi asked.

"Right away. I want the village to know what happened as soon as possible, but I intend to stay to negotiate with Kumogakure's commanding officer regarding the fate of Steam," Minato said, nodding towards a dark-skinned man a few streets away.

Kakashi felt the excitement bubbling up in his chest. Sure, it wasn't a particularly challenging assignment, but it did come straight from the _Yondaime_ as a show of faith in his ability. As a show of trust. For once, he felt undeniably proud of himself. "Yes sir. We'll go right away," he said, shaking Pakkun awake.

Minato smiled. "Good man. When you're done, you can head back home and perhaps we can celebrate that birthday of yours after all. All of us, together."

Kakashi grinned and hoped he didn't blush. "Sounds pretty good," he admitted.

Shizune found him as he was packing his things, Minato's message rolled up and tucked into his belt. She looked unharmed, though like the rest of them she could have used a bath or two to wash off all of the dust that Tsunade's spree had thrown around. "I figured I'd say bye, before we left," she said, shrugging. She studiously avoided his eye.

"Right... Thanks for helping me." God, talking to teenage girls was so weird.

Shizune nodded sharply. "Just remember I was right, okay? Tsunade-shishou came through for us in the end."

"I guess so," Kakashi said, and then remembered something. "Actually, I wanted to ask her something. Does she – Err –" he had a feeling the sentence 'does she take on students' wouldn't sound right coming from someone who had so openly criticized the woman. "I mean, I guess – if you ever go to Konoha again, you'll at least know someone."

Oh, congratulations, Kakashi. And the price for most awkward, nonsensical statement goes to…

"Right," Shizune said, drawing out the vowel. "Sure."

Kakashi cleared his throat. Perhaps he would just write Tsunade, or track her down and shake all the secrets of her chakra reserve seals out of her. That would still be less of a hassle than finishing this conversation. "Well, gotta go. Bye."

He turned around as quickly as he could and walked away.

"Smooth," Pakkun commented dryly. "I can tell you'll grow into a real ladies man."

Kakashi fought down his blush. "Oh shut up. Your idea of a good conversation starts with sniffing someone's butt," he muttered. "Anyway, we have a job to do."

"Right, right – a courier job?"

"Yes. While you're here you might as well help. There might still be enemy shinobi around, so stay alert."

Pakkun let out a long, torturous sigh. "Oh, all right then. If we must." He hopped to the ground and stretched out his legs. "It has been a while."

And it had, hadn't it? At least three months had passed since he had last run with his pack at his side. It felt good to step out of the village with Pakkun loping ahead of him – or, well, bouncing anyway – the smell of fur in his nostrils. If he concentrated he'd be able to hear the telltale patter of nails on the floor. It'd be better if all the other dogs were there as well, but there was no real reason to call them up now. It would be impractical more than anything.

They reached the woods in no time at all. His injuries didn't hinder his movement much and he hadn't used a lot of chakra, so he didn't bother rationing his energy. It felt good to run after sneaking around all day yesterday. He channeled his chakra into his nose and his ears and sensed every nuance of the forest, like the smell of wet moss on the trees, the sound of a rabbit burrowing into its den and the wind rushing through the trees. Kakashi loved the forest.

Perhaps it was his joy at having succeeded and being out in the forest that kept him from noticing the other presence, at first.

Perhaps, if not for Pakkun's superior senses, he would not have noticed at all.

 **AN:**

 **Oh boy, that's not good. Who do you think is in the forest with Kakashi?**

 **My boy Kakashi tries so hard. Also, can you tell he actually has slightly better self-esteem than he does in canon? It's a miracle.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I've heard a couple of people mention that they don't receive notifications for this story on AO3. I'm not sure why that happens but it's definitely inconvenient. Make sure you've checked the subscribe button on either my profile for this story, or keep an eye on my tumblr for updates (hii-raeth). You can also find me and this story on fanfiction as hiiraeth. I hope that helps!**

 **Also little warning! Blood and violence and people intentionally hurting each other in this chapter, so be careful if that's not your cup of tea. It gets a bit nasty. Err. Sorry.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12.**

* * *

Someone had followed Kakashi here from the battlefield. Someone _lethal_.

The master assassins known as the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist had their own segment in the Bingo Book, which was a rare and dubious honor bestowed only on the kind of people you really wanted to avoid. The number of legendary swordsmen never wavered; if one fell, their apprentice would pick up their sword and title both. As far as Konoha knew, Kuriarare Kushimaru was the third to pick up the infamous _Nuibari_ , the all-piercing blade.

He was also, judging by his featureless mask, a former hunter nin. Kirigakure's Hunter nin specialized in _silent_ killing. Any target of theirs died unsuspecting, without having heard so much as a footstep or the flick of a blade.

But Kuriarare couldn't have guessed at the Inuzuka blood running strong in Kakashi's veins.

What saved Kakashi was the scent of wet straw. He caught it, an unexpected whiff where there should have been only forest and pine, and then Pakkun barked out, "I smell blood."

Old blood, like iron and death, one of the earliest scent memories Kakashi had – impossible to confuse for anything else. The exact same scent he had picked up on when he'd been pushed to the ground, his shoulder jarred, and Kuriarare had whispered, "I _know you –"._

Kakashi silently thanked the Inuzuka ancestor who had been reckless enough to fall in with some wild Hatake from the North, and instantly cloned himself and Pakkun. He tossed Minato's scroll at the original Pakkun as their clones peeled off to set a false track. "Take it and go, _now_. I'll follow."

Pakkun knew his duty. He didn't protest. Kakashi replaced the pug with a third clone, already neatly transformed into Pakkun's tiny figure as the original disappeared into the tree line, faster than anyone on two legs could run. He pushed chakra to his feet and sped up, trees and branches whizzing by fast enough that he pulled up his headband and opened his left eye to avoid running into them.

The clone decoys wouldn't fool a fully trained hunter nin for long, but any delay was good. More time for his dog to get the word out, and more time for him to _think_. He made a quick inventory. There was his new blade, strapped to his back, and if things got really desperate he could always resort to _chidori_. Even someone like Kuriarare wouldn't be able to predict a kid pulling out something like that, right?

Except of course that if he was a shinobi worth his salt, Kuriarare wouldn't let something as basic as a surprise attack distract him for very long. There was no time to prepare a trap. Kuriarare wasn't far behind. Any moment now, he would know Kakashi had sniffed him out.

If only Kakashi still had Minato's kunai.

Thirty seconds later, his clone burst out of existence in a cloud of pain and blood. The first Pakkun clone followed immediately after. Kakashi shook off the half-memory of dying. Not long now. What jutsu could he use..?

Kuriarare was too fast to escape. Kakashi would have to make a stand.

His heart pounded in his throat. He willed himself to breathe through his nose until his pulse slowed down enough that he could think again. His mind went smooth and quiet. There was a clearing up ahead. That's where it would happen.

Mind made up he created a basic bunshin, insubstantial but convincing at a glance, and made it go into the clearing. The Pakkun clone joined it. They looked young, inexperienced. Stupid. Most people wouldn't be able to guess he had almost ten years of fighting behind him. Hopefully, Kuriarare wouldn't either.

 _I know you_ , Kuriarare had said. _I know you_.

But how?

Another minute passed. Kakashi took position in one of the trees around the clearing, a strong and sturdy oak that would be able to take a few blows. He channeled a little bit of chakra into a simple cloaking illusion. It didn't make him invisible, but it would make him harder to spot.

He crouched down and readied his chakra. If he could get the first blow in...

The faint ghost of chakra prickled across his awareness, barely there and yet –

Now that he knew to look for it, it seemed inescapable.

His _bunshin_ flickered and wavered out of existence. Two small _senbon_ , barely visible in the shadows, buried themselves in a nearby tree. Kakashi didn't move.

A tall, thin silhouette appeared at the edge of the clearing, too far in the shadows for Kakashi to make out his exact position. The featureless mask didn't give anything away. Kuriarare chuckled softly, without the manic edge it had held earlier. "Clever little boy, but too brave. You should have run for your mother," he said, softly.

At this rate, Kakashi thought, that's probably what I'm doing.

Kuriarare vanished without a sound.

He didn't enter the clearing. Because of course he didn't. It was too obvious a trap.

Good thing Kakashi had thought of that as well.

 _Kai!_

The explosion that rocked through the forest felt like a punch to the gut. The exploding tags he had placed around the clearing ripped through solid wood like it was paper, felling the trees left and right. Someone cursed and then, right _there_ –

Kuriarare jumped into the clearing to avoid the billowing flames, with a white-knuckled grip around his sword. For just a moment he was still and visible, an open target.

 _Chidori_ screamed as Kakashi charged.

He could feel skin tear underneath his fingers, muscle catching onto his nails and giving away, hot blood spurting up – Kuriarare's shoulder, that was his shoulder, not his heart –

Kuriarare swiveled to one side, his right arm useless but the left coming up and –

Kakashi twisted and caught _Nuibari_ just before it slid into his gut, his _Sharingan_ blazing to keep up, and how long would he last –

Kuriarare's muscles twitched and he was about to kick, he was going to kick, and then his foot slammed into the crook of Kakashi's hip with enough force to crack it, too damn fast to dodge it even with the Sharingan.

The pain was sharp and startling enough that Kakashi hardly noticed how his bruised shoulder jarred when he hit the ground. Keep moving, keep moving –

A twist of his body and he slipped just out of _Nuibari's_ range. He grabbed his own blade and brought it up just in time to block _Nuibari_ when Kuriarare used the chain to yank it back. Up close, _Nuibari_ burned with chakra, bright blue fire visible only to the _Sharingan_. Kakashi forced chakra into his own blade and that, he was sure, was the only reason that it didn't break upon impact and leave him defenseless.

 _Nuibari_ doubled in back and landed in its owner's palm faster than any unenhanced eye could see. Kuriarare launched himself at Kakashi with that same liquid speed but Kakashi's hip, his hip, it wouldn't let him run –

Their blades clashed again, and again, and shit, Kuriarare was _strong_. His shoulder was bleeding badly, but it was almost as if Kuriarare didn't even feel it. Kakashi's hip, on the other hand, screamed with pain under the pressure of Kuriarare's attack. Better to let go.

He shifted his weight to let Kuriarare slid past him, metal grating over metal, and called up _chidori_ in his left hand. It was a desperate move, but Kuriarare was too fast and experienced for anything other than a quick finish. The Sharingan caught dark eyes widening beneath the featureless mask as Kakashi came up on Kuriarare's unprotected back, ready to slide his fist through skin and bone –

 _Nuibari_ seemed to twist in midair and slid perfectly between the bones of Kakashi's left lower arm and into his injured shoulder, like a knife through butter. Before the pain could even register Kuriarare knocked his legs out from under him and pushed him to the ground, chidori fading and his arm pinned to his chest like a butterfly. He felt numb. The sound of his ragged breathing filled his ears. The pain hit mere seconds before Kuriarare's fist connected with his temple.

* * *

Kakashi woke up to a blinding cocktail of pain and darkness and the terrifying feeling that he couldn't breathe. He gasped involuntarily, gasped again and tried to reach for his mouth, but his hands were tied and there was something wrong with the left arm –

A warm hand reached out and pulled the cloth from his head. Kakashi bucked into the cold, stone wall behind him. A plain face with keen, dark eyes looked back at him. Shaggy blond hair fell like a mane down to the man's shoulders.

Kakashi's breath rasped in his throat. Kuriarare. His white mask lay beside him.

Kakashi's own mask was still in place, but something had been tied around his head to cover the Sharingan. The wounds in his arm and below his collarbone ached without reprieve.

"There you go, boy. Breathe, go ahead. I'm not killing you just yet." Kuriarare turned away to attend to the small fire crackling away. He held his right arm close to his body, and the bandages around his shoulder were soaked with dried blood.

It was getting dark outside. It must have been hours.

"Sorry about your puppy. I'm sure he made it back to his realm just fine," Kuriarare tossed something at him. A water bottle. Kakashi managed to unscrew the cap with his good hand and sniffed at the water.

Kuriarare growled and grabbed the bottle from him to take a sip, before pushing it back into Kakashi's hands. "There, it's not poisoned. You'd think I'd go through all the trouble of capturing you only to poison you now?"

Kakashi said nothing. He drank slowly.

Kuriarare watched him for a moment. "You know, you're interesting. You surprised me. That little lightning trick? I had to cauterize the wound. And then there's that eye of yours. I don't see an Uchiha crest anywhere. You a half blood?"

Kakashi dropped the bottle. The cave was small and narrow – the only way out was past Kuriarare.

"You are what, thirteen? Fourteen? And yet here you are showing up to all these big fights," Kuriarare shrugged and smirked. His tone implied they were just having a friendly chat, from one guy to another. His eyes were cold.

 _'All these big fights'_ though? So… This wasn't a Sakumo thing? Where had Kuriarare..?

"I wasn't there last time, admittedly, but we're not completely backwards, in Kirigakure. We caught you on camera when you were freeing your little girlfriend," Kuriarare's grin widened. "And you know, we're all pretty curious about the little kid who managed to infiltrate our village."

He leaned forward. "More than that, though… We're pretty curious about what you did with our _bijuu_."

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. Shit. _Shit._ They were going after _Rin_.

"She died," he croaked. "On the way home."

Kuriarare tilted his head. "Haven't they taught you yet it's better not to say anything? But sure, okay – let's assume you're speaking the truth. I'll… Entertain the thought. Little girl died, big angry bijuu died with her. In a couple of years time, he's going to pop up somewhere in the world feeling mighty pissed. Now that's not really to anyone's advantage, is it? I'm thinking Yondaime would like that about as much as a rusty nail in his eye. So, what did everyone's favorite blond _seals-master_ do to prevent that from happening?"

Kakashi's blood froze in his veins. "He wasn't there. She died."

Kuriarare grabbed his injured arm and squeezed, grinding bones together. " _Really_?"

Kakashi's breath hitched. " _She's dead_."

"Hmm. You see, _I'm not buying it_. But that's all right. We have plenty of time to figure out the truth."

* * *

Sanbi didn't disturb Rin's sleep that night. It was, she thought the next morning, not unlike a hostage negotiation. He'd gone to have a think about her proposal and hadn't made so much as a sound since. It was… eerie.

How much time would he need to decide? And what would he do if he said no?

The apartment she had steadily grown to think of as her and Kakashi's seemed somehow less alive without Kakashi's presence, but it was nice to wander around in her sleep clothes and a toothbrush dangling from her mouth without having to feel embarrassed. Not that Hatake 'bedhead' Kakashi would be particularly judgmental, but still. It was… Nice. Comfortable. She felt very grown-up, all by herself in the apartment.

What would her father say, if he saw her now? Was he puttering around her childhood home right now, getting ready to go to his bakery? Did he think of her? Was the old photograph of the two of them together, laughing, still hanging above the kitchen stove?

With Kakashi away, she could cry without anyone knowing. That was another advantage.

She didn't have a training session today. Kushina had been exhausted after talking to Sanbi, though she had tried to hide it, so Rin had insisted on a break. Kushina needed to take it easy, no matter how many existential crises Rin was going to have today. Only one month until the baby would be born. That, at least, was something to look forward to. Kushina and Minato would make wonderful parents.

After breakfast, she went to the river again. She'd never given the place much thought in the past, but now it seemed unthinkable to spend a single day without dipping her feet into the stream. She didn't like to think about what that might mean. It was a nice day out, so children were playing on the bank. In the distance she saw Kushina's friend Mikoto and a stately Hyuuga woman with a baby bump of her own. They were chatting as Mikoto's eldest splashed around with a slightly older curly haired boy.

The two women briefly glanced over to Rin. Rin looked away. Time to move on.

She stepped out of the water and put her boots back on. Her breathing came quickly. Would they be able to see that she was different now, with their eyes? If anyone could, it would be them – and then they wouldn't want her around the children. They wouldn't want her around at all.

She left. Kakashi would disapprove of walking away, but then he wasn't in her shoes. He was away on a mission, and he didn't have to worry about how others looked at him.

Okay, that wasn't fair – if anyone would understand facing other people's scorn it would be him. But he was leaving that period of his life behind. For her, it was only just beginning. She could no longer count on people accepting her for who she was alone. Better to stay away from the people who could find out without her wanting them to.

She kept walking, so caught up in her own thoughts that she barely saw were she was going. She knew Konoha from running around his child, playing with her friends. She knew all the secret passages a child could fit through, all the broken fences and shortcuts. She even knew what kind of pavement covered which street.

The cobbles beneath her feet were infinitely familiar.

This was her street. This was home.

Rin stopped walking.

Her father's house was just up ahead, along with all of her things and – and –

 _him_ , too.

Sharp pain broke through her thoughts. She had bitten her cheek.

And someone was calling her name. Her stomach turned – but no, it wasn't her father's voice. She turned and looked around, blinking, but saw no one.

"Down here, doofus. It's me!" Came the gruff little voice again. "Come on kid."

No wonder she hadn't seen him – the speaker roughly came up to her knee. "Pakkun? What are you doing here?"

"Delivered one message to the paper pushers, and now I'm delivering another one to you. Kakashi is in trouble. He needs help, but I don't know who to turn to. No one's going to leave the village without either evidence for Minato's permission," the pug said, and with that nearly floored Rin.

Her voice didn't tremble when she spoke again, but it was a near thing. "What kind of trouble?"

"Kuriarare Kushimaru's after him. I don't know why. I just know that guy is a problem. I'm not sure the kid will be able to run him," Pakkun's head dropped. If his tail had been long enough, it would have been between his legs.

Kuriarare... The name sounded familiar, but she didn't have Kakashi's ridiculous memory. "This guy is strong? And a tracker?"

"Yeah. Kakashi needs reinforcement. Perhaps Kushina…"

"No, no way. She's eight months pregnant, she can't go fighting powerful shinobi," Rin said. Her heart pounded painfully loud. Who could help him? Who –

Who else but her?

"Can you find them? If we go now, can you find them?" She pressed the dog.

He flicked back his ears. " _We_? Rin –"

"Yes, _we_. Trust me. Would I play with his life?" Her voice was steady again, almost powerful. Her heart was still racing, but her mind was clear. Her life was a mess, possibly ruined forever, but one truth remained: if Kakashi was in trouble, she would save him. It's what they did. It's what they had always done.

Something of her determination must have shown in her face, because Pakkun recoiled a little. "I trust you," he said.

Rin nodded and set off in the direction of the apartment. "I'll have to pick up some supplies. We will have to leave without alerting the guards, too. I'm not allowed to leave the village yet."

"What? Why not?"

Right – Pakkun didn't know. "It's complicated. I'll tell you some other time, okay?" And she would, even though the thought scared her. Pakkun was Kakashi's partner, and that meant the pug was her partner too. He would find out eventually, anyway. Some way or another. Best it came from her directly.

As they walked, she questioned Pakkun further. With every word he spoke, her concern grew. Kakashi was good – hell, he was great, a genuine genius – but he was also young and not without weaknesses. And by now, it had been almost a full night since Pakkun had last seen him. It would take another few hours to even reach his location.

Anxiety rolled through her, but she pushed it down. Kakashi didn't hesitate to save her. He didn't give in to despair when Kiri took her. She wouldn't, either. She refused.

For supplies she took a medical kit, a lightweight survival kit and nutrition bars. She would have to travel light.

 _This is ridiculous it won't work you are not prepared –_

It would have to.

It had to work.

If it didn't, Kakashi would die.

 _Don't even think it._ _Don't don't don't._

This went beyond crushes or infatuation or anything as shallow as that – he was her best friend, her closest ally, the one person she could always count on. She couldn't lose him. She wouldn't. She refused.

"Lead the way," she told Pakkun, and barely recognized her own voice.

It took for a moment to realize that, beyond anything, she was _angry_. That perhaps she had been angry for a long time now, and that this was somehow the event that finally allowed it to boil over. That she had been holding back for weeks, even during her adrenaline filled training sessions.

 _Kiri has taken enough from me._

Somehow, she could tell Sanbi was _grinning_.

Passing the gate turned out to be easy – all she had to do was flash them a mission scroll, and their familiarity with her did the rest. For a moment, she was just Yondaime's pupil, off on some low ranking solo mission.

No big deal.

Pakkun stopped just once after they had left the village behind. "Are you sure about this? You're the team medic."

"I _am_."

"He wouldn't want you to throw your life away –"

"I'm not going to. I'm going to _save his_." Her hesitation washed away even as she said it. She was going to save him, or save as much of him as she could. Even if she would get there too late, she wouldn't let anyone touch him, or leave his body to rot somewhere anonymous and cold.

Kakashi was Konoha. Kakashi was family. He was _hers_.

She would never leave him behind. Not for anything.

 _Sanbi_ , she thought, _will you fight for me_?

A deep rumble, the creature stirring in the depths of her mind, his rage mingling with hers.

 _Yes_.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **According to the wiki, Kuriarare likes** **to** **"precisely pierce multiple enemies in quick succession, but also stitch them together utilising a substantial length of** **wire** **attached to the blade".** _ **Yikes**_ **.**

 **Kuriarare's wiki page:** wiki/Kushimaru_Kuriarare

 **You might have noticed I'm adhering to a slightly different power balance than canon. When I'm talking about the seven swordsmen, I'm not talking about a bunch of skilled jonin, I'm talking about** _ **legends**_ **. Take that, anime fillers.**

 **Let me know what you thought!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Little warning for referenced torture and child death.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13.**

* * *

Kakashi opened his eyes. Waking up from unconsciousness always felt a little like emerging from underneath the water after a long dive with his eyes closed. The world spun around nauseatingly. He was pretty sure he was running a fever. His shoulder throbbed, sending flares of pain down his arm and of his neck.

Kuriarare hadn't let up for hours.

Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut.

 _Don't think about it don't think about it._

He hadn't said anything. Of that, at least, he could be proud. He dared a glance down his arm. It looked like it had been flayed. Had felt like it, too. It wouldn't heal easily.

He had never known water jutsu could be so _sharp_.

Some distant part of his brain recited a piece of research that showed that adult shinobi often went easier on kids and preferred to avoid hurting them, even if they were on opposite sides. Most child casualties were the result of explosions or mass attacks. Maybe legends couldn't afford such luxuries. Or maybe Kuriarare was simply a psychopath.

Kuriarare was sitting by the cave entrance, looking out into the valley below. It was pouring rain, but the sun was coming up. It was strangely comforting to see light filtering through the raindrops, casting a rainbow in the distance.

Kuriarare shifted and looked over his shoulder. "Morning, sunshine. Ready to go to your new home?" He sounded cheerful. Psychopath, then. Or a good actor.

New home. Kiri, probably. That made sense. They would take Obito's eye and then have as much time as they needed to interrogate Kakashi. Kiri was infamous for its interrogations. His heartbeat spiked. _I don't want this I don't want –_

Breathe. Think. Panic has never helped anyone.

He couldn't fight – he had lost too much blood already, most of it caked to his front, and his hip was probably fractured. The fever suggested infection. But he had sent Pakkun home. The dog would get help.

Kakashi could play for time.

"I liked the architecture, last time I visited. Very child friendly," he said, blithely ignoring the tremor in his voice. He would have shrugged, but well…

"He says, shivering," Kuriarare scoffed.

"I'm serious. I like the color scheme, all that blue – very professional."

Kuriarare tilted his head a little.

Kakashi ignored his nerves. _He will hurt you anyway, it doesn't matter what you say._ It doesn't matter. Pain doesn't matter. Everything is temporary, even this. "Bet you have a nice house. Does it pay well, being infamous?"

Kuriarare finally cracked a grin. "What, you looking to make a name for yourself?"

"You have _seen_ me, right?"

Kuriarare scoffed again. "Kid, for every legend there's ten promising dead kids. A freaky eye and a fireworks show for a fist don't mean you make it. "

"Means I stand a chance, though."

"Sure, but what for? You like making people bleed? Because I sure do. But you? You saved your little girl. You're softhearted. Like all you Konoha fools."

Kakashi stilled. "You think Konoha's softhearted?"

"Don't you?"

His father, turned into a pariah. Kushina and Rin, driven to the edges of society to keep their secrets. Obito, dying at age twelve.

"I think Konoha is a cold place," he said.

Kuriarare hummed. He smiled faintly. "You ever hear about Kiri's graduation ceremony? Each of us has to kill a classmate to pass. Fun, right? The fear often drives kids mad before it's even started. Four years ago, one kid got so scared he slaughtered his entire class. Just for fear of dying. He'd be around your age. Nice kid. _Ambitious_."

Kakashi clenched his jaw.

"I reiterate: Konoha's soft," Kuriarare shrugged. "Anyway – we had our fun, but it's time to go. Don't suppose you can walk?" He didn't wait for an answer, but instead stepped over to Kakashi and put the hood back over his head. Kuriarare checked the ties on his hands and feet. His eyes lingered on Kakashi's wounds.

There was too much blood, and they both knew it.

Kuriarare looked thoughtful for a moment. "Don't really want you doing that lightning thing while you're on my back, kid." His fist swung, and the world turned black again.

* * *

 _And this man we are chasing is from Kiri?_ Sanbi asked again, gleefully.

Rin bit her lip. _You already know_ , she thought.

The forest ground disappeared rapidly underneath her feet. Pakkun was setting a murderous pace, but Rin felt strong. How much of it was her, she wondered, and how much of it was the demon?

 _That is for me to know and you to find out_ , Sanbi cackled. _Finally, we're outside of those damned walls!_

Despite her determination not to agree with Sanbi on anything, Rin had to concede this point. It was good to be outside of the village again. Before Sanbi, before everything, she had rarely stayed within the village for more than a week before a new mission took her and her team outside the walls again. Konoha was a large village, but it still felt constraining to be within her walls without a single break.

That didn't mean she liked agreeing with her new tenant, though. Or that he seemed to be listening in on her thoughts. If she couldn't trust in the privacy of her own mind –

 _It's because you're angry. You're_ emotional _._ Sanbi laughed again. _That leaves you defenseless._

But outside of that? He knew her name, somehow. How much else did he know?

 _Enough_ , Sanbi preened.

"Stop listening in!" Rin cried out.

Pakkun looked back at her. "Huh? Listening into what? I ain't no eavesdropper."

Rin flushed. "Sorry! I'm – I was talking to myself."

Pakkun held her gaze for a bit longer. "Right. Because that's totally healthy."

Rin ducked her head. Great. Now she had a demon inside her head rifling through her memories and a pug outside her head judging her for her craziness. Just what she needed. Was this her life now?

"Let's just keep going," she said softly.

Pakkun hummed, already distracted by something else. "I smell petrichor. It's raining up ahead. We have to hurry, before it washes away the scent."

Rin's stomach turned. "Can't you… sense him? Through your summoning contract?"

"Only to the point that I know he's alive," Pakkun said. "Think of it as a kind of awareness in the back of your mind. I know he's out there somewhere, but I can't pinpoint him."

Still alive. Still alive still alive still alive. "You couldn't have told me that sooner?" Rin snapped. "I thought – I didn't know –"

Pakkun growled." You think I'd be leading you in danger if I didn't think there was a chance of saving him? You've changed a lot. I'm not sure I like it."

Rin blinked. "I – I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm worried."

Pakkun snorted. "That makes two of us," he grumbled. "You know, you used to be such sweet girl. I let you touch my paws and everything."

Rin remembered that particular dubious honor. She should try to unruffle the dog's feathers, but what would be the point if – if –

 _Help me go faster_ , she thought.

Heat spread through her body like a fever and when she pushed off of the next branch, she shot forward at a far greater speed, easily overtaking Pakkun. She felt lightheaded, like she was coming down with something. Sweat pearled on her forehead.

"Guess we're speeding up," Pakkun grumbled, his tiny legs working overtime. "You owe me a belly rub after this."

"Done," Rin said. "Better yet," she added, and scooped the pug up into her arms. Pakkun was tiring. "We'll be faster this way."

"Are you on soldier pills or something?" Pakkun's little claws scrabbled at her arm. "You were never this fast before."

"They're very special soldier pills," Rin said, distracted. She could see the rain up ahead, coming down in sheets. She grimaced. "Can you still smell him?"

"I'm not an amateur. I'll tell you if I lose it."

 _Otherwise, I'll find him for you_ , Sanbi said. Rin had the distinct feeling he didn't mean Kakashi. But then Sanbi had no reason to like Kiri, did he? As far as she knew, Sanbi had been in Kiri since the first Hokage captured all the bijuu and sold them off to the other villages to ensure balance. That was almost eighty years ago. Not a lot of time for a demon, perhaps, but plenty of time to be...

 _Yes? Do finish that thought. What you think they did to me?_ Sanbi rumbles, his voice caught somewhere in between amusement and bitterness.

It was a little difficult to communicate through thought alone – too easy for her line of thought to get distracted and ramble off into some entirely unrelated idea – but it was better than scaring other people by talking to herself.

 _You're a prisoner,_ Rin thought. _They lock you up inside of people and use you as a weapon. Your freedom was taken from you. They use you as a weapon._

 _I am a weapon, aren't I?_ Sanbi asked.

 _I don't know. You are now, but were you always? No creature is born a soldier._

Sanbi didn't respond. Rin tried to remember what she had learned about bijuu prior to their capture by the Hokage, but the memory was spotty at best. They had roamed the world, she thought, free to do whatever they pleased. It seemed so unlikely that people had allowed them to. Then again, there had never been anyone like the first Hokage before. What a life he had led. Rin couldn't imagine living on such a scale. One human being, just one, had changed the fates of millions.

 _And ours too_ , Sanbi said. _How embarrassing_.

"They're moving," Pakkun croaked. Rin had almost forgotten about him. "Quickly now. They're not very fast, but if they get over the border…"

"We will follow anyway," Rin said, because if Kakashi could follow her into an enemy shinobi village, she could cross the border for him.

Pakkun looked up at her, his canine features hard to read. "I guess you haven't changed, after all," he said, after a moment. "I'm glad the pup's got you in his life."

Rin flushed. "So am I."

Pakkun gave her the doggy approximation of a smile, all jowls and teeth, but then he suddenly turned his head and went rigid in her arms. "They stopped moving."

 _Of course, if we can sense him, he might also be able to sense us,_ Sanbi whispered.

Rin's heart leapt. "How much further?"

"Two more miles, but –" Pakkun's eyes shuttered, and Rin's stomach did a nervous flip, "– I smell blood. Kakashi's blood. Too much of it."

Contrary to popular belief, time doesn't actually stop after such announcements are made. If anything, it only seems to speed up.

Rin's vision blurred with helpless tears and something else, something red and angry, something _not her_. The burn of sanbi's chakra barely registered. Pakkun glanced up at her and yelped, but Rin barely noticed.

There was only the enemy ahead, and the threat of losing her closest friend.

She thought of Obito's smile, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Sanbi grinned.

* * *

Today was a slow day for Kushina. She had actually slept until ten, something she hadn't done for years, and then spent another two hours waddling around the house in her pajamas. It was _delightful_. She could chat to little Naruto to her heart's content without anyone calling her crazy, and without invoking that adorable but aggravating little smile Minato would always give her.

(She had also had ramen for breakfast. That would remain a little secret between her and the baby.)

Still, the house sure was quiet without Minato or the kids. A little bit dull, really. "You can't come soon enough, buddy," she told her belly. It would be good to have a little tyke around the house to occupy her time and generally be delightful. Missions were far and few between for her, anyway.

Life was starting to get a little bit boring, truth be told.

Well – if Kushina didn't count the drama Minato's little students underwent at far too regular intervals. _They_ could do with a little bit of boredom in their lives. Some good old-fashioned monotony. Time in which to dust the windowsills or have awkward dates or whatever it was teenagers did these days.

If anyone could ever persuade Kakashi of the existence of romance, anyway. Kushina wondered whether he had opened Jiraiya's gift yet. _Make-out Paradise,_ really? Perhaps that was the wrong kind of educational reading.

Kushina sighed. Her own windowsills were looking rather grimy. What an occupation for a kickass Shinobi. "The sacrifices I make for you," she told her belly, unsure whether she was addressing Naruto or Kurama. Demon, baby… What was the difference, anyway?

 _There's a difference_ , Kurama growled.

Kushina almost dropped her cup. "Damn! Warn a girl first, would you?"

It was hardly the first time Kurama had surprised her over the past couple of weeks. The further her pregnancy progressed, the closer to the surface he seemed to rise. Mito had warned her, of course – but it didn't make it any less unnerving. The hair on the back of her arms was standing upright.

Kurama grinned. _You wouldn't like it if I did._

Kushina snorted. _I don't like anything you do._

 _Such a rude little girl_ , Kurama tutted. _The one from yesterday has better manners._

"Don't even think about her. Rin is off-limits." Kushina put her cup down with slightly more force than necessary.

 _She's a jinchuuriki. It's not like we can avoid her._

"We? Who said anything about we? It's your furry little paws I don't want anywhere near her."

 _Sure thing. Anyway, she seems to be taking care of the problem for us._

Kushina froze. Kurama sounded smug. That was bad. "What do you mean?" She asked, a little wary of the answer.

 _I will tell you if you ask nicely._

" _Oh, you overgrown_ – what do you mean, O illustrious one?"

More smugness. Kurama practically radiated it. _It seems my little brother left the village this morning. They're getting further away every minute. Are you yearning for boredom yet?_

"Oh, _shit_."

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Short but sweet, I hope. I'm having so much fun with jinchuuriki world building here.**

 **Anyway, as you can see we'll have a battle next chapter – hence why I cut the chapter off a little short. I'd rather do the whole thing in one chapter, with proper pacing, than awkwardly space it over several chapters instead.**

 **Also, if you haven't seen it yet, I posted a AU of this AU under the name "Other Ghosts". It's a bittersweet KakaRin story that will also give you a few hints as to where this one is going...**

 **Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Please bear witness to one of the most intense fight scenes I've ever written. I hope it works. If you're squeamish about blood and violence, maybe skim through.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14.**

* * *

Kakashi woke up screaming as Kuriarare pressed down hard on his shoulder wound. Sweat beaded on Kuriarare's upper lip and his eyes were hard. The pain was excruciating, sharp and stabbing and precise. Kakashi could feel the blood seeping out of the wound and into the white pad Kuriarare was pressing down. It was hard to think. His arm burned burned _burned_.

Kuriarare hissed something under his breath. Kiri dialect – Kakashi was too woozy to catch the clipped consonance and strangely formed vowels. At least they weren't moving anymore. It occurred to him Kuriarare was probably trying to keep him from dying. His heart seemed to thunder in his chest. Hypovolemic shock, he thought. Words he had read a thousand times but never had to apply to himself.

Kuriarare's own wound was neatly bandaged and taken care of. His movement was a little stiff, perhaps, but he was at no risk of dying. Kakashi's condition had to be quite the inconvenience. No use carrying a prisoner home if he was already dead. And bloodline limit eyes only worked while their host bodies were still alive, so he would be useless even dead.

He wasn't scared anymore. It seemed like a thick fog had descended on him, keeping all emotion at bay. There was only the pain, and the rain coming down on them everywhere. He felt cold.

A branch snapped somewhere to the left. Kuriarare's head snapped up. Kakashi could see him swallow. He felt Kuriarare's chakra reach out to sense their surroundings. Kakashi could only smell iron and rust and Kuriarare's sweat. He hoped whoever had broken the branch was Konoha. He hoped they were strong.

Kuriarare lifted him up into his arms and deposited Kakashi at the foot of a tree. He put Kakashi's legs up over one of the roots.

"Put pressure on this," Kuriarare said, grabbing Kakashi's good hand and placing it over the pad. It felt soaked, but that might have been the rain. Kuriarare straightened out and put his eerie mask back over his face. He looked like a wraith or a ghost, so tall and thin and otherworldly. He pushed out his chakra to make himself seem bigger, but there was something else in the forest, drowning out the pressure.

A shiver ran down Kakashi's spine. Something was coming. He could feel it now. Something big and looming and dangerous, that made the more animal part of his brain want to scramble and flee. He could barely keep up the pressure on his wound. There would be no running.

The closer the thing came, the stronger the chakra pressure. It seemed to push down on Kakashi, speeding up his heartbeat and making breathing more difficult. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing through his nose. The worst thing anyone could do upon encountering killing intent was _panic_.

Kuriarare cursed. Kakashi opened his eyes and rolled his head to the side to see. His vision blurred.

The creature wasn't very big. Glowing red chakra cloaked slender limbs and a narrow figure, a long tail bubbling up behind her. The creature's eyes glowed magenta, and her hair floated around her head as if caught in some invisible wind.

There was something familiar buried underneath that overwhelming, red chakra. Something Kakashi knew as well as he knew himself. Something...

" Well well well," Kuriarare said, only a slight tremor in his voice, "if it isn't the prodigal daughter, returned at last."

"Let him go," Nohara Rin, dear Rin, growled, "or Sanbi will tear you apart."

* * *

" _What a pretty little bluff_ ," Sanbi crooned in her head, his voice overwhelmingly loud. "It _'s almost as if you think you can control me_."

Rin was on fire. Her skin burned and burned and burned. She had never felt so much chakra in her life. With this she could, she could – she could level forests, raise tsunamis, burn down whoever stood in her way.

" _With time, maybe we will_ ," Sanbi said, and he showed her himself, towering over a village and smashing it all down. It was only a flash of memory, tinged not with glee but with a distant kind of frustration, like a gardener pouring boiling water over an inconvenient anthill.

"You disgust me," Rin hissed.

The man before her lowered himself into a fighting stance. His mane of hair hung limply around his featureless mask. His blade was long and thin like a needle.

"Kuriarare Kushimaru," Sanbi said with Rin's voice, her lips, her mouth. She could feel Sanbi's joy. Her body shook from the excitement of his bloodlust. She couldn't stop him at all.

The man called Kuriarare tensed. Behind him, Kakashi was barely moving and far, far too pale.

 _Just save him_ , Rin thought, desperately. _Just save him, and it will have been worth it_.

Rin's body seemed to move of its own volition. She barreled towards Kuriarare, her shoulders low and hands at her side, curled up like claws. Her nails grew long and sharp. This wasn't her – this was Sanbi, pulling her strings like a puppeteer.

 _Your body is too damn_ _slow_! Sanbi hissed, and twisted her right foot to throw her out of the path of Kuriarare's counterattack. His blade slid past them – _her_ , the long metal wire it was attached to unfurling behind it. Rin reached out, caught the wire in her hand, and jerked it towards her. The metal cut into her palm.

Kuriarare grunted but didn't lose his balance, so Sanbi-Rin gave the wire another jerk, planted their-her foot into the dirt and pounced towards him, their-her right arm outstretched and ready to strike like a hammer.

Kuriarare slid past her, just out of reach. His injured arm jerked on the wire. Something whistled through the air, coming closer and closer –

Rin's right palm touched the ground and pushed off, letting her body sail over the needle blade once more. Her fingers tangled together in seals she barely knew. Her chakra twisted the rain around her into sharp torrents that raced towards Kuriarare, all of it so fast that the torrents had already reached him before her feet touched the ground again.

This wasn't Rin. She wasn't this fast. She was no prodigy. This was –

 _Human bodies are clumsy little things, but I have had plenty of practice_ , Sanbi growled _,_ and for a moment Rin was someone else, somewhere else, small and nimble but powerful even without Sanbi, fighting against a red-eyed shadow.

Kuriarare twisted around the first water torrent, then brought up his hands and caught the second between his palms, the water billowing out into a liquid ball, made harmless. Sanbi snorted, and a second later the water ball began to hiss and steam between Kuriarare's fingers. Kuriarare jerked away and the water fell to the earth, no longer alive with chakra.

Rin's hands formed seals again. The next torrent of water spears hissed and boiled and left trails of steam behind as they hurled towards Kuriarare. Kuriarare scrambled to get out of their path. Rin's eyes followed him and so almost missed the glint of metal coming from her right.

 _Stupid girl_! Sanbi roared and threw her body back. The needle blade scored a line across her upper arm, taking some of the fabric with it. Sanbi snarled and Rin snarled with him, more animal than girl, and together they chased after Kuriarare.

 _Do you want to know what they did to me, girl_? Sanbi snarled. Rin's body moved faster than it ever had before.

 _Do you want to know what they did?_

Her body twisted through the air, perfectly dodging the currents of water still chasing after Kuriarare.

 _Do you want to know that they tortured me?_

Her right arm twisted behind her for balance as her left rocketed towards Kuriarare's mask.

 _Do you want to know that they chained me with stakes through my hands?_

Kuriarare's head turned to meet her, his eyes wide behind the mask, his injured left arm too slow to block her hand –

 _Do you want to know that they kept me in darkness for decades?_

Her fist connected with Kuriarare's temple with all the force of Sanbi's rage. Kuriarare's head snapped to the left from the sickening blow, and she would have felt sorry, she would have, if he hadn't – if he wasn't –

 _Humans are monsters!_ Sanbi roared in her mind, straining against his chains. _Humans are animals, who fight and fight and fight!_ _You are no better than us!_

Kuriarare stumbled, his hands slackening –

 _You are beasts!_

Kuriarare fell away, only just catching himself with his hands. His mask crumbled and blood came running down his face. Concussion, Rin thought, brain hemorrhage –

Kuriarare roared in anger. His chakra rose up and up and up within him, shaking the air around him as he pulled his blade back into his hand. He stood there, legs spread and bloodied head raised proudly, and she knew then that he would not back down without a fight.

 _Good! Let him show me what he can do!_ Sanbi said. _Then I will show him better_! She felt her lips curl into a smile.

"Rin –" said a cracked voice somewhere behind her. "Rin –".

Kuriarare and Rin clashed, chakra blazing so brightly that the rain hissed when it touched their skin. His blade pierced cleanly through the shell of her ear, slicing through skin and cartilage. The thumb of her right hand found his shoulder wound and _pushed_. He roared in pain but barely faltered. His large hand grabbed the back of her tunic and threw her to the ground. Her back hit the dirt hard but the pain seemed distant and unimportant. Her legs snapped out and kicked at his knee so it buckled beneath him. His free hand wrapped around her ankle and pulled her towards him. The hand holding the blade came down.

Rin rolled away and the blade missed her. The kick aimed at her rib cage did not. Sanbi growled and threw up a wall of boiling water between her body and Kuriarare. His forward momentum cost him as his left hand pushed through the wall before he could change direction. It flinched back towards his chest, red and blistered.

Rin's rib cage pounded, somewhere behind that haze of adrenaline and chakra. Blood trickled from her ear down her neck. Intellectually, she knew there would be hell to pay for her body. Soon.

 _But not yet._

Kuriarare wobbled, his balance shot from the blow to his temple. His left arm dangled at his side. "They stabilized your seal," he croaked. "But how –"

"Rin –" the voice said again, and this time it made it through the haze. Kakashi. That was Kakashi. She turned her head for a split second. When she turned back, Kuriarare was nowhere to be seen.

Sanbi roared furiously and chakra around her blazed. _Don't let him get away! You can't! I was finally having fun_!

"He – he'll go back to – Kiri. Rin, you can't let him. He'll tell – tell them about you," Kakashi said. "They'll know. They can't – can't find out." He sounded hoarse. Like he'd been screaming.

 _They tortured him, girl, they tortured him, go get your revenge! Go get it – stop dawdling!_ Sanbi screamed.

"You're like a little child," Rin said softly, "throwing a tantrum."

 _KILL HIM._

"My friend is dying. My friend is more important than revenge," Rin said, because there was too much blood pooled around Kakashi's shoulder. And he had been tortured, and she would get her vengeance, but what would be the point if Kakashi was dead? She forced her body to turn, strangely aware of the sound of her footsteps. It was so quiet, when they weren't fighting.

"Rin, no–" Kakashi gasped, because she was facing him now, and he knew what she was about to do. "No, you can't."

"I can," Rin said, feeling more sure of herself than ever before, "and I will." Sanbi roared and roared but her own fury was fading. Slowly, she became aware of her heart pounding in her ears, in her bruised ribs and painful fingers. By the time she reached Kakashi, she was staggering.

But she had plenty of chakra left.

And yes, Kakashi wanted her to turn around and stop Kuriarare for the sake of Konoha, but he also wanted to live, so he didn't stop her when she pushed his hand away from his wound (hand, singular, because his left arm was mangled and broken and bloody and would not move without help). The wound was still seeping.

"All I need to do is close it," she said. "Then I can get you to a hospital."

There wasn't any time to think. There was no space for logic or reason in her mind. All she could think was, _I'm not losing him too_.

The mystic Palm technique's usually jade green chakra tinged red at the edges when she called upon it, and Kakashi hissed when it touched his skin. She could smell something burning, but she could also feel how it forced muscle and organ tissue back into place. Kakashi made a horrible sound in the back of his throat, his free hand clawing at the ground even as his eyes threatened to roll away.

Rin restored his ruined shoulder blade and watched as the skin around the wound became waxy and blisters burst open.. She pulled muscle back into place and fused broken arteries back together. Kakashi screamed something unintelligible as his skin seemed to melt away. She resisted the urge to throw up.

Even as she healed him, she was burning him alive.

"Just a little bit further," she choked out, "I'm sorry. Hang on for just a little bit longer."

One more twist of her corrosive chakra drained the internal bleeding from his chest cavity and twisted his skin away. Rin pulled her hands back instantly, stopping the flow of chakra from her hands so abruptly it made her fingers tingle.

They were both panting in the silence that followed. Kakashi was pale with pain and exertion. The skin that had been split from the wound looked horrifically twisted and thin, torn in places and blistered in others, but Kakashi's breathing no longer rattled and he had stopped bleeding.

Rin dropped back onto her heels, staring wide-eyed at what she had done. Kakashi looked at her from the corner of his eye for a few more seconds, his expression unreadable, and then he faded into unconsciousness.

Now, all Rin had to do was keep him from going into shock.

Her legs were shaking. Sanbi was eerily silent in her mind. The chakra that had cloaked her was altogether missing. She hadn't even noticed.

She looked up. Where had Pakkun gone? Had she hurt him too? He'd been scared of her, she had seen it in his eyes. She couldn't see him in the clearing.

She turned back. Her strength was quickly disappearing. How on earth would she get Kakashi to a hospital? Had it all been for nothing? Had she – had she lost?

"No, Rin-chan. No, I don't think you did," said a familiar, warm voice, and Rin twisted around to see him.

Namikaze Minato smiled, looking as impeccable as ever. Pakkun stood beside him, panting and shaking with exhaustion. There were other shinobi too, but she could hardly see them through her exhaustion.

"It's okay now, Rin-chan. You've done so well. I'll take care of the rest," Minato-sensei said, and with that Rin passed out.

* * *

Rin came to in a field hospital tent, white canvas flapping in the wind. It was still raining outside; she could hear the drops overhead.

Kakashi was on the field bed next to hers, still unconscious. He was stripped to the waist, a compress packed onto his wound, and someone had been kind enough to pull a surgical mask over his face.

"He's going to be okay," an unfamiliar voice said, from much closer than she had expected. A dark-haired woman stood near the tent's entrance, looking at them with sad eyes. She was dressed in a jounin uniform, with the Uchiha crest stitched onto her upper arm.

"Uchiha Mikoto-san," Rin realized, and hurriedly pushed herself up. Her ribs protested and she fell back with a grimace, clutching her waist against the pain.

"And you must be Rin. I have heard a lot about you. Do you mind?" Mikoto nodded at the small chair between the two field beds, and when Rin shook her head, took a seat. Mikoto took a deep breath and let it out slow and measured. "You won, if it helps. Our hunters are still chasing Kuriarare, but you did good."

Rin's heart skipped a beat. "He saw me. He knows my seal is stable."

"Yes, I'm afraid so. But can you really say you regret it?" Mikoto said, and gave her a knowing smile. She angled her body so Rin could see Kakashi. "You saved his life, you know. He'll have a nasty scar, but that's better than being dead. And scared the hell out of my men."

Kakashi would live because of her. Rin filed that somewhere in the back of her head, along with _people will know_ and _things are going to change_ , and instead asked, "Is everyone okay? Did we... Did the negotiations go well?"

"Hmm. Our little dalliance in the village was a nice show of force that did exactly what it was supposed to do: intimidate." Mikoto pulled Kakashi's blankets up higher to cover more of his torso, and then stood up. "But I'll leave you to it. I'm sure the Hokage will be able to tell you more. I just wanted to check up on my student."

Rin blinked. "Oh – I – yeah. Thank you. I'll let him know you came by."

Mikoto nodded, and left.

For a few minutes, all Rin could bring herself to do was sit and stare as her thoughts raced. She… She'd used Sanbi's powers in public, against actual people. People had seen her and known her for what she was. People would judge her for it. But…

She looked at Kakashi and watched his pale chest rise and fall slowly. She had hurt him – she made him scream in agony, twisted his skin up into permanent scars – but she had saved him as well.

She had a feeling he would mind the new scar less than she did.

Still Rin knew such a destructive form of healing had no true future. If he had been hit anywhere else, if the damage had been more extensive than muscle and skin and bone… If she had had to repair organs –

She would have killed him in trying to save him. Even now, she could only hope she had not done irreparable damage to the muscle tissue in his shoulder.

" Rin-chan, are you up? Mikoto-san said you were, but then she likes to play tricks on me, she's a devious woman – oh, you are," Minato said, smiling as he ducked into the tent. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you're all right. You scared us. You both did."

Rin smiled. Minato-sensei never failed to cheer her up, with his beautiful smile and bright eyes and, best of all, that cheerful voice. "I'm okay," she said. "Just… I think I'm still processing."

Minato nodded. "That would make sense. You've been through a lot. When Kushina sent me the message –" he shuddered and gently took her hand. "I worried I might lose you. And then suddenly Pakkun was there to tell me _why_ you have left the village."

He nodded at Kakashi. Beneath his tan, he looked remarkably pale. "The two of you will turn my hair gray before I'm thirty."

"I'm sorry, sensei." Tears prickled in her eyes. "I've caused you even more problems. If Kuriarare makes it to Kiri, they will know Konoha has two jinchuuriki –"

And Minato would be held responsible. Kiri would know that the delicate balance that the first Hokage had created by dividing the bijuu over the shinobi villages had been broken.

Minato's brow furrowed. "Did you know that the seven-tails used to belong to Suna? And now they have only the one-tails left. It was a bigger problem for them than it was for the village that stole their bijuu."

Rin's eyes widened. "I didn't know that. But, I always wondered – the division never seemed fair."

Minato nodded. "One and seven went to Suna, three and six to Kiri, four and five to Iwa, two and eight to Kumo, and the strongest of all, the nine, stayed in Konoha. It was thought to be a fair balance. One could not attack the other without facing equal opposition. The first Hokage thought it might be enough to create a lasting peace."

Rin burrowed into her pillow. "So he did make mistakes, after all."

Minato chuckled. "Well, even he was only human. But the point is that this has happened before. If it leaks, it will be bad – but I believe we can see it through. Kiri will suffer the most for their mistake. They won't want other villages to know just how badly they have been weakened. When the seven-tails was stolen Suna kicked up quite a fuss. They insisted it was unfair, and forgot that in a world of shinobi it is better to keep quiet when one is weakened. They were overrun and nearly destroyed barely a week later. Their current economy still suffers from that blow, decades after the fact. "

"Whoa. Jinchuuriki are that important?"

"Yes and no. One single jinchuuriki may only do so much damage, but the knowledge that they exist, that they _could_ be powerful enough to level a village, that is their real strength. So each village keeps the status of their jinchuuriki under wraps. For all we know, Kiri's six-tails currently resides inside an infant, and their losing Sanbi left them without a single trained jinchuuriki. On the other hand, the six-tails could also be inside their Kage. Our uncertainty protects them."

"That's another reason why I'm not allowed to tell anyone, isn't it?" Rin asked.

Minato nodded. "The fewer who know, the better. Especially while you are still training. It's not as bad if other villages know about you when you are grown up and well-trained. We know several of the other village's jinchuuriki's identities because we have met them on the battlefield. It's just that they are too strong to just take down, and too rarely sent out for us to predict their movement and set a trap."

"That's why Kushina-nee rarely takes missions," Rin realized.

Minato pulled a face. "Well, the baby also has a little something to do with that because pregnancies tend to destabilize seals, which I personally think is because each seal is only calculated to handle a certain number of individuals and when a pregnancy – a third person – comes into the mix – I'm sorry, I'm rambling. None of that is relevant for you yet, but I'll be sure to explain it again if you ever decide you want children –"

Rin blinked as she tried to keep up, but it was to no avail. Sensei could get like this sometimes, when his brain would move too fast for anyone but Kakashi to keep track of what he was saying. She filed away _something about pregnancies_ and decided she could ask later, when her mind didn't feel like it had been wrapped up in a giant cotton bud.

"Thanks, let's do that," she muttered.

Minato's face fell a little. "You must be exhausted. Your ribs are bruised, too, and your ear – ahh, well – it's a little chipped, I'm afraid, but it shouldn't pain you. Your chakra system is a little fried so we're keeping you on bed rest for the time being…" He trailed off awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I was never very good at comforting people."

Rin choked on a sob. She smiled anyway. There _was_ a chip in her ear, she could feel it through the bandage. Perhaps she would have minded it more a few years ago. "It's okay. I'm – I'm glad just to have you here, sensei."

Minato squeezed her hand. "Good. I'm glad. I was feeling pretty useless out there, you know. I got to you too late, again. I sent Kakashi out into danger, and he almost –" he ducked his head.

"But he didn't," Rin countered. She wanted to tell Minato he didn't have to fight every battle, that it wasn't his fault if things went wrong, but she wasn't sure how to put it. He was the Hokage, and much older and wiser than her. What could she say to comfort him?

Minato nodded anyway. "I know. I know, I'll just – well. I look forward to all of us being at home again, safe and sound. Kushina will be happy, too." He smiled, though it didn't quite reach his glistening eyes.

Rin smiled back anyway.

* * *

Kakashi didn't wake up on the long trek back to the village. Rin kept looking in his direction to see if the medic carrying him wasn't making any mistakes with the blood transfusion. Kakashi was type O – they knew that, right? They had to know.

It didn't seem to matter how often she chided herself for those ridiculous thoughts; they kept coming, anyway. She was relieved when they finally reached Konoha, and the hospital, where the best medics in the world worked.

She was less pleased when they rolled him off towards the surgery room but carried her towards another ward. She was given a private room, and as it turned out it was a little hard to stay angry when her back hit the mattress. She fell asleep almost instantly. She didn't dream at all.

Rin was more than a little alarmed to wake up and find twelve hours had passed. Her head felt cloudy. Why had no one woken her up? The sun was starting to rise outside. She blinked blearily in the sharp light as her brain started to reboot.

Kakashi. How had the surgery gone? Was he okay?

She kicked the blankets off and pushed herself out of the bed. The floor was cold and smooth below her bare feet. She was only wearing a hospital gown – closed at the back, a quick inspection revealed – but that didn't matter either. She just wanted to see him.

There were very few people in the hallways, but one of the nurses managed to direct her to the correct room. The surgery had gone well, the nurse said, but Rin would have to be quiet.

Well, Rin knew that perfectly well, she was still medic at heart, and like a medic, she grabbed Kakashi's chart before she even looked at him. Heartrate stabilized, blood pressure steadily returning to normal, a slight fever but no sign of infection. Further notes on the original injury showed some damage to the muscle tissue of his lower arm, the blade's first point of entry –

Rin had to put the chart back down. She breathed in deeply through her nose. Anger, no matter how righteous, would wake Sanbi up again. She wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

She looked up.

Kakashi looked dreadful. His face was still ghostly pale underneath the oxygen mask. His left arm was bound to his chest and his torso covered in bandages and healing seals. This was exactly why she had checked the chart first – injured people usually looked worse than they actually were.

A single dark eye blinked lazily at her. Rin flushed. She hadn't even _noticed he was awake, and he was practically half naked, and she was in a hospital gown –_

"Hi," Kakashi croaked, and because he was Kakashi, waved at her with his good hand.

"Hi," Rin said stupidly.

"So. I'm not dead."

"Not for lack of trying," she said. He was on a morphine drip.

"Hmm. That's usually how it goes."

"Why were you –" she said, just as he said, "was it you who –"

"Sorry."

"Sorry, yeah."

"You go first."

"Oh, okay. Did you – was I hallucinating, or did you save me?" Kakashi asked, blinking owlishly.

Rin flushed deeper. "I think I did. Unless I was hallucinating too."

"That seems unlikely."

"It's not medically impossible."

"I prefer the version where you swooped in and saved me."

Rin giggled, despite herself. "I do, too."

"Thank you," Kakashi said, after a moment. "I don't remember it very well, but thank you. Are you okay?"

That was a remarkably thoughtful and, well, _long_ sentence, for Kakashi's standards. Perhaps he was better at talking when he was on morphine. "You're welcome," Rin said in a small voice.

Kakashi nodded, then frowned, and said," Where have all my clothes gone?" Because, well, _morphine_.

And if Rin flushed even brighter, well. She'd had a hell of a year.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Yay for another chapter! We're nearing the end here, folks. All aboard the pain train… Seriously, it's going to hurt.**

 **fun fact, by laying Kakashi flat on the floor and putting his legs up** **Kuriarare was treating the symptoms of hypovolemic shock, or severe blood loss. Guess he did something right in his life. Anyway, do you think he will be caught?**

 **I put a lot of effort into this chapter, so let me know what you think!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Angst ahead. Be warned.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**.

* * *

His spy informed him the child would be born in October. Madara flexed the fingers of his left hand. They were still a little stiff. No matter. The body would suffice. Even the eye had come along nicely, powered by the force of Madara's own ghosts.

He smiled faintly. _Kamui_ hadn't been seen in the Uchiha lines for a thousand years. A pleasant surprise. It almost made up for the missing left eye. The body responded well to Hashirama's DNA, too.

Yes, a pleasant surprise.

Now he just had to wait.

* * *

Kakashi dozed more than he slept, only distantly aware of people and things moving around him. He was aware they moved him. He was aware that there was a heck of a lot of pain one moment, and a morphine induced fog the next. He was aware of the smell, somewhere distantly – that horrible mixture of antiseptics and illness. At some point Minato held his hand and murmured something gentle before leaving again. He slowly, so very slowly, pulled out of the haze of pain and returned to the real world.

Shit, he hurt. He turned his head. He was hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor – no surprise there. The monitor beeped regularly. His vision blurred, and he couldn't make out the readings. He closed his eyes tightly and felt stiff fabric against the eyelashes of his left eye. Eye patch. Fancy. He was a pirate now. A hospitalized pirate whose entire left arm was on fire.

 _Shit_ , but it _hurt_.

Someone snorted on the other side of the room. It wasn't a 'you're ridiculous' snort or an 'are you kidding me' snort, it was more of a 'my chair was about to tip over which is the only reason I just woke up' snort.

Rin blinked at him from where she sat on the offending chair. Her hair stuck up at a strange angle and she was dressed in hospital scrubs. The bandage around her ear had been taken off; there was a small chip in the shell, already healed over. She blinked, and then glassy eyes turned sharp.

" Don't you know sleeping in chairs is bad for your back?" He croaked.

A smile blossomed across Rin's face. She had very pretty eyes when she smiled. "I'm glad you're awake," she said.

"Yeah. Hi," he said awkwardly. "Is everything okay? I kind of... Zoned out yesterday."

"It is now. The doctor said there shouldn't be any lasting damage to your shoulder. The surgeons also did a skin graft on your lower arm, which seems to be taking well. The blade sliced through the muscles in your lower arm, though. You'll need time to recover."

Kakashi looked down at the offending limb. They'd put it in a sling. He tried to move his fingers. It felt weird. "How long?"

"A month, at least. Coupled with mandatory regular healing sessions."

Kakashi sighed. "And the hip?"

"A hairline fracture. They managed to fix it during the surgery."

"Thanks."

Rin nodded and shifted in her seat. "Also, sensei signed a treaty with the land of Lightning yesterday," she said, so quickly he almost missed it.

"Wha –" hope, overwhelming hope came and drowned out the pain. "What, I lose consciousness for one day and you guys save the world?" He said faintly.

Rin giggled. The sound was light and sweet and deliriously happy. Something in his chest released seeing her so joyful. She shook her head.

"You did help. Because of you we were able to fix the situation in Steam. We set up a truce with Kumo and, well... Kiri didn't really have a choice but to retreat after that," she said.

Kakashi blinked. "Oh. Right." He felt lightheaded. Of course, that could have been the morphine talking. Or alternatively, the lack thereof. The jury was still out on that particular matter.

He looked her over again and only now noticed the bandages around her arms. A memory flashed across his mind, of Rin and Kuriarare, of red and blood and – Oh. _Sanbi_.

She'd released Sanbi. Rin had lost control.

On the upside, that meant Kuriarare had probably been reduced to dust. On the other hand…

"Hey, are you – I remember what happened," he said, stumbling over his own words. "Are you okay?"

Her smile faded. She looked down at her hands. "I'm all right. Please don't worry about me. You're the one who almost died."

"But I didn't actually die, so I can still worry when you go and do dangerous things like that," Kakashi countered. "What the hell were you doing there anyway?"

That, that got a proper reaction. Rin looked up sharply and Kakashi immediately knew he had put his foot in his mouth. "What I was doing? I was saving your life!" Rin said.

Then again, if your name happened to be Hatake Kakashi there was really only one way to deal with foot-in-mouth situations: be a stubborn-headed mule about it. "But not at the cost of your own!" He threw back at her, and damnit, he really meant that. Even just looking at Sanbi funny could get her injured, but letting the demon out? That could have – that could have actually –

"You could have died!" They chorused, and then blinked at each other stupidly.

For a moment there wasn't really anything to say. Rin's knuckles were white from how tightly she was balling her fists.

"Pakkun told me what was happening," Rin said, breaking the silence. "I couldn't just let you die."

"Who said I would have died? I had the situation in hand, there was no reason for you to –"

" _Situation in hand_? In what world –"

"You could have killed yourself trying to save me, and then what –"

"But I didn't, I _saved_ you, and if I hadn't it would still have been worth trying –"

"Damn it Rin, I'm not worth that!" Kakashi shouted.

She stared at him, stunned into silence.

"I'm not," he started, and then didn't say, _I'm not worth your life_.

They fell silent again. No more shouting. Kakashi felt vaguely nauseous the way he often did while on drugs. Yeah, it was the drugs. That was it.

"That's just stupid," Rin said quietly. "That's not your decision to make. I saved you. I didn't die. I know it was risky, but it's – it was worth it." She looked down at her hands. Her face looked ashen, now that he stopped being angry for long enough to see her properly. "You're worth it."

Oh. What –

What exactly was he supposed to say to that?

"But... You're right about one thing," she continued. "Using Sanbi is dangerous. I don't regret it, but…

Rin paused. She shrugged helplessly. "I'm not safe," she finally said.

No, no, that's not what he wanted her to say, that was just – shit, this had backfired so quickly –

"You're fine –"

"I'm not safe, " she cut him off.

"Oh," he said, stupidly. "Well, that's wrong."

She turned angry eyes towards him. They were brown again, not magenta like they'd been in the forest. She'd never looked at him quite so angrily before. "How is it wrong?"

"You wouldn't attack me. Or our friends. Not ever."

"Sanbi is a _demon_."

"I'm pretty strong," he said churlishly, looking away.

She let out a long breath. "You're an idiot."

Wait, what?

He gave Rin a startled look. She had never spoken to him like that before. She seemed a little startled by it herself, lips pressed into a thin line and her eyes wide as her cheeks turned red.

"Well, you are," she said, clearly flustered. "Barely a year ago, you walked right into the most dangerous place on earth like it was nothing. And then – and then you dragged me out like you were going to fight all of Kiri. And you would have died, too."

"Like hell," he said indignantly, sitting up straighter. "I planned the whole thing out."

"It was a stupid plan," she returned.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"But it was insanely dangerous! Why are you always so reckless?"

"I'm not reckless at all, you're reckless! What were you doing, asking me to kill you?" He replied, each answer coming quicker than the last. His own face was red as hers by now.

"I was trying to save your life! And Konoha! And why is it okay for you to have crazy plans to save me, but not the other way around?" She bit back, shooting up from her chair and accidentally ripping one of the many wires on the floor from its socket. The life-support machine screeched in protest. They both stared at it. After a moment, Rin laughed wetly.

"I'm sorry. I meant to say 'thank you'," she said, looking down. "You did save my life back then."

He felt a stab of guilt. "I didn't get there in time, though."

"I don't think anyone could have gotten there in time," she said softly. "I'm sorry for putting you in such a difficult position."

"Are you actually apologizing for getting kidnapped?"

"No, I – you know what I'm apologizing for. I should never have asked that of you. I've... Kind of been waiting for you bring it up."

You'll have to kill me, she had said. Like it meant nothing.

He was briefly quiet, and then shrugged. " 'S okay."

"It's not. I know that."

"No, I'm telling you it is. I know why you did it. I don't agree, but I get it," he said churlishly. "Just… Don't ever do it again."

She was quiet for a while. "So long as you don't, either."

She didn't look at him. She glanced briefly at his hand, but she didn't look at him. His gut churned with guilt. "All right. I'm sorry for worrying you.. Did you… Did you kill him? Kuriarare?"

Rin looked down. "They're still chasing him. I had to choose. Either I continued to fight, or I saved you."

Funny, the way she could say that like it wasn't important.

"And don't you try to tell me I made the wrong choice, I have no regrets," Rin said, misinterpreting his silence, and when had she becomes so fierce? She had changed, and somehow he had failed to notice that perhaps her transformation had given her more than just somber moods and insecurity.

Kakashi had always known Rin was strong, emotionally. He was still getting used to a version of her who recognized her own strength.

"I won't," he said slowly. "We've already had that conversation, anyway. No point having it twice."

Rin looked relieved. "Well, yes, exactly –"

"HATAKE KAKASHI!" One Uzumaki Kushina roared, as she practically ripped the door from its hinges in her hurry to enter the room. "What the hell you think you're doing, getting caught by the enemy?"

Just behind her, Minato sensei flinched and smiled apologetically. "Now, Kushina, dear –"

"DON'T YOU DEAR ME, MINATO! I have two teenagers to scold!" With that, she turned towards Rin. "And don't think you're just getting away with this. Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Kushina made a despairing sound and dropped herself into the nearest chair, panting. The other three occupants of the room were watching her with the intensity usually reserved for deer caught in the headlights. Three highly trained shinobi: zero. One pregnant lady: all the points.

"Honestly, "she breathed, "I thought I was going to have the baby then and there, just from the surprise."

"Well, everything turned out for the better," Minato said, inching closer and, when she didn't snap her teeth at him, reaching out to massage her shoulders. "You can relax now."

"Oh, please. Like you kids will ever let me! It's all disaster here, trauma there, and if it wasn't so absolutely terrifying it would almost be funny," Kushina said, and suddenly her voice choked off and her hand came up to hide her face from view.

Oh, no. They had made Kushina cry.

Because it might have been funny, team Minato's trouble magnet qualities, if they didn't all feel the Obito shaped hole in the room. If they hadn't all known just how close they had come to losing even more. If it wasn't so real. Kakashi's throat closed up.

"I'm so sorry for worrying you, Kushina-nee," Rin said, anguish written all over her face. "I would have told you I was going if – if I'd thought I had the time."

Kushina wiped roughly at her eyes. They seemed to blaze in the bright hospital lights. "I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with the people who keep putting you through all of this. You're just _kids_."

"It's war. It's only to be expected," Kakashi said.

"That's not the people I meant," Kushina said, giving Minato a pointed look.

Minato nodded slowly." You know I need the majority vote of the jounin Council, and they're not going to give it until the war is over," he said. "We've lost too many men."

"That shouldn't even be an argument, and you know it," Kushina grumbled.

"Change comes slowly, and then all at once," Minato squeezed her shoulder. "We'll keep working at it."

Kushina sighed and took his hand. Kakashi had the distinct feeling they had had this discussion before.

He also noted Kushina had been referring to _Konoha_ , not their enemies. That Konoha was putting them into dangerous situations. He frowned. Was there even a way around that? Should there be?

Evidently Rin was following the same train of thought. "Did you have something in mind, sensei?"

Minato sighed. "Well, it's a work in progress. I intend to raise graduation standards and ages. We're sending out too many children – half of them ill-equipped at that. It's not even remotely moral, just a cruel left-over from a time where shinobi were killing each other so effectively they needed everyone to fight in order to survive. Sandaime used to say children are our greatest good but every time we go to war, every time we're in a pinch, we seem to forget that." Minato ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't at least try to change it."

Kakashi was vaguely aware that civilian children were never asked to fight, or endanger themselves. Instead they went to school or took on an apprenticeship to learn a profession, all the while being coddled by their elders. They lived safe, sheltered lives where they were only expected to play and be unreasonably irresponsible. They were like a different species of animal, to Kakashi. Could that same lifestyle work for shinobi children? Could it ever have worked for him? He couldn't imagine himself living such a carefree life. He grimaced. The thought made him feel uncomfortable, more than anything.

But Obito might have lived, so perhaps that alien lifestyle, the one Kakashi had so much trouble imagining, would have been better.

"It sounds like a good idea, sensei," Rin said, looking down at her hands. "I don't really understand how anyone could oppose it."

"Because some council members are war hawks with more bitterness than sense," Kushina growled. Kakashi had a feeling she knew exactly who opposed the idea.

"I've always been told that being a shinobi is the greatest thing I could do for Konoha," he said slowly. "And I've always believed it, even though they first sent me out when I was five and treated my dad like shit–"

Minato looked so, so tired." Kakashi," he said.

"I was five, sensei, and I did as I was told because I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be… Good, and brave, and like you, so I stuck it out when I got scared –" he stumbled over the word, didn't really want to admit to it, "And I know it's messed up, to send little kids out to fight, but I didn't know it then. Because you don't really think about it when everyone tells you it's a good thing. You don't really bother to criticize it.

"But you can't fix me," he said finally. "I'm already a shinobi. I've never been a kid. So don't tell me that's all I'm supposed to be. I have no idea how."

He slowly became aware of Rin's hand holding his own.

"That's not what I'm saying, Kakashi," Minato said softly. "But there's nothing 'just' about being a kid. In a better world, you would have gotten the chance to learn that."

Rin squeezed.

Kakashi's left eye burned underneath the eyepatch. "So what, you're going to change the village? You're going to make it better for kids?" He croaked.

Too little, too late, a part of his mind screamed. Obito was dead and Rin was a living prison and Kakashi –

Kakashi.

"It may be too late for us," Rin said softly, "but not for other children."

Kakashi's eyes were automatically drawn to Kushina's belly. He tried to imagine the child. Would he have red hair, or blond? Kushina's gray eyes, or Minato's blue? What would his life be like, if he never had to fight?

Better, a voice that sounded suspiciously like his father said it would be better.

Kakashi sniffed. "I know."

Minato smiled and nodded. Kushina looked at her husband like he'd hung the moon and stars.

Kakashi huffed and looked back at Rin. "I guess we should help him accomplish it, right? Lots of old geezers to convince and genin to punch. He – he can't do it all by himself," he said, reluctantly.

Rin beamed.

"Oh man," Kushina said, "I really love you kids."

* * *

In between the actual healing, the mandatory psych counseling and the physical therapy, it was already October 1st by the time Kakashi finally got to go home. He wasn't cleared for duty yet because his shoulder had the nasty habit of sending throbbing pain down his arm every time he tried to rotate the limb, but Rin wouldn't pretend she was particularly bothered by that. It was good to have him by her side for a while.

Kurenai had already ambushed her a couple of days ago, going on and on about how she had heard that Kakashi, _Kakashi_ , had chased off one of the seven swordsmen of the mist, how amazing, how wonderful, how on earth had he pulled it off –

Which was how Rin figured out that Minato, Mikoto and their team hadn't divulged _all_ the details of Rin's latest ordeal with the villagers.

The relief of that had almost caused her knees to buckle where she stood, which would have been a bit of a spectacle, in the middle of Main Street. They didn't even know she had been there at all. The less people thought about her, the less likely they were to find out the truth. Which was how Rin figured out another truth: unless the truth of her jinchuuriki status ever came out, the village leaders would do their damnedest to make sure she never got a turn in the spotlight. No acknowledgment for what had been one of the scariest moment of her life.

Rin wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Kushina was starting to become increasingly fidgety, as October passed. Her movement slowed and she started to spend most of her time at home, lounging on the couch or looking dreamily into the little nursery she and Minato had put together over the past few months.

Rin visited often. Her training had been put on hold and it wasn't like anyone was giving her missions either, so she was more than happy to revert to her medic roots and spend the most of her time with respectively a pregnant lady and a grumpy, injured teenager.

Kakashi looked at her differently now. Less like she could shatter at any moment. He even brought over his friend Gai once so she could teach him to make cupcakes, which as Kakashi put it was the ultimate test of her stress resilience and ability not to let Sanbi go haywire. Rin happened to think Gai was very sweet and an attentive student to boot, even if his cupcakes turned out a slightly too lurid shade of green for her tastes, so she chided Kakashi for being so rude to his friend. Some things never change.

On October eighth, Minato invited Kakashi and Rin over for dinner, where he announced he was going to put the notion of raising and standardizing the Academy graduation age to the Council in a week's time. Kushina beamed all evening.

She went into labor on October tenth.

* * *

Kushina was whisked away to some kind of undisclosed location the moment her contractions started. It was frustrating and more than a little scary to not be able to do anything for her, but that was what they had been expecting for months.

So instead, Kakashi and Rin holed themselves up in their apartment and tried to while away the hours.

They smiled nervously at each other over the chessboard they'd placed on Minato and Kushina's kitchen table.

"What if the kid turns out to be a prodigy, but also has Kushina's flair for the dramatic?" Kakashi asked idly, moving the first chess piece. He played white.

"He'll terrify us all into loving and following him forever, I think," Rin said, tapping her fingers on the table.

A sigh. "That seems horrifically likely."

"What if he doesn't like ramen?" Rin posed.

"He'll be disowned and turn into a missing nin. After fifteen years, he'll return as the master of all ramen-based ninjutsu to inspire his family's deep-seated regret."

"... You've been watching daytime television again, haven't you?"

"I have a lot of time on my hands."

There was a beat, in which she tried to hide a ridiculous grin from taking over her face. He was a little hard to resist, like this. "Daytime television, though?"

"... It's surprisingly entertaining."

"I think the baby will be wonderful either way, questionable taste in food or not," she finally said. "It's hard to imagine anything else, with parents like his."

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, but he didn't disagree. He made another move on the chessboard. "Why all the secrecy, though? I'm pretty sure she's not having the baby in the hospital."

There was something about pregnant jinchuurikis that made some people very, very nervous.

"I think it's something to do with kyuubi," Rin said hesitantly.

Kakashi looked startled. "It's that bad?"

"I don't know about that, but they're clearly not taking any chances."

Kakashi huffed. "One of these days, they might actually let us in on stuff like this before it's already happening."

Rin shrugged. Her father didn't usually involve her in things he deemed to be adult topics, either. But she was used to having a parent around and being in the role of his daughter. Well. She used to have him around, anyway.

"I'm sure they don't mean anything by it," she said.

Kakashi idly toyed with one of his pieces. "I know. S'just annoying. I mean, how long have we known them?"

"Almost seven years, now. Even longer for you."

"We're practically part of their furniture."

Rin snorted out a laugh. "You do make a lovely gardening tool." She took one of Kakashi's pawns.

"And like any loyal scarecrow, they might at least throw me a bone every now and then."

"I feel like you don't understand what scarecrows are for."

He scowled at her. It was funny how expressive he could be even with a mask. He made another move, closing in on her queen.

Rin smiled faintly. "I know you want to help, but they are entitled to their privacy too, you know."

Kakashi shrugged. "I don't like being left out of the loop."

"I know. Me neither."

"Check."

"Oh – already?"

"Sorry."

"You'll have to tell me how you keep winning," Rin said, pushing herself up from the table. Outside, the sun was setting, coloring the sky in reds and pinks. It had been five hours she had last seen Kushina. She shivered.

"I was going to see Gai for a bit. Last I heard Kurenai and Asuma were coming too. Asked me to invite you. You want to come?" Kakashi asked her, carefully lifting his injured arm back into his sling. He didn't meet her eyes.

Rin blinked. "Oh! That sounds lovely. I could use a distraction, anyway." But since when did Kakashi hang out with their peers? Or get invitations before she did?

They pulled on their shoes and left the apartment. Outside, the air was brisk and fresh. A little cold for the season, perhaps, but not unpleasant.

 _I like the cold_ , Sanbi purred, a mere whisper in the back of her mind. He sounded sleepy.

Kakashi set a strong pace towards the barbecue place Gai had invited them to. The place was more crowded than either of them liked, and they stuck close together until they spotted their friends' booth.

Asuma gave them a lazy wave. "Hello kids. Come and join us in the madhouse." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Gai, who was challenging Anko to an eating contest. Genma was watching them with a bemused expression on his face. Ebisu was pleading with them to stop.

Kakashi hummed and paused next to the booth, hand in his pockets. "Bit more crowded than you promised."

Asuma huffed. "Gai invited his team. Anko invited herself, naturally. Guess we'll have to make do."

"It's nice to see everyone together," Rin offered.

Kakashi's eyebrows rose steadily as Gai and Anko worked their way through what could only be described as a meat pile-up. "That's one word for it."

Asuma grinned. "Yeah, well. They'll probably ask you to join before you know it. Come on, sit down – eat. It's going to be a night to remember."

Rin had always quite liked Asuma – he had a kind of laid-back, relaxing presence that had often felt like a breath of fresh air after spending hours with her own teammates. He didn't quite possess his father 's gravitas or sense of responsibility, but he had always felt like one of the more mature members of their peer group. He'd even started to sprout a few mustache hairs on his upper lip as if to underscore his group status.

Anko was an entirely different breed of animal; with her loud voice and blunt personality she was very much Rin's opposite. But she had been one of Obito's rare true friends, and for that Rin could look past most imperfections. Anko sent a quick grin their way by means of greeting, which had the unfortunate side effect of alerting Gai of his rival's presence.

"Kakashi! You're looking particularly radiant this evening – but I bet you can't beat me in a speed eating competition!" He cried out, his loud voice drowning out the others.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. Everyone watched him intently for his response. "Bet I could, too," he said.

Genma started laughing. Asuma groaned. "Hatake, _no_."

Kakashi raised his nose in the air, haughtily, and waited for their friends to make a space for him in the booth. Genma was still laughing. Ebizu was saying something about irresponsible behavior, and "you are a role model, Kakashi-kun, you can't –"

Rin started to laugh as well. She'd been right. This was exactly the kind of distraction she needed.

* * *

They spent another two hours there, during which Kakashi's eating speed seemed to be increasing with every new bowl ( "It's _learning_ ," Asuma had whispered, horrified) and Ebizu nearly threw up in sympathy when Gai went for his tenth serving.

At some point, the trees outside had stopped rustling, as if the wind had fallen still. It was completely dark now, aside from the shop lanterns. The buzz of people's voices filtered into the restaurant, even as most of the other clients had already left.

Rin leaned back in her seat, sighing contentedly. She usually liked fish better than meat, but this restaurant knew what it was doing. No wonder – it was run by the Akimichi clan. Even so, she couldn't help but think of Kushina, who was out there somewhere giving birth. She met Kakashi's eye. He crinkled it in sympathy, evidently understanding her train of thought. She smiled back.

"I haven't seen you look this happy in months," Kurenai said unexpectedly, while the boys (and Anko) were still occupied by their own banter. "I'm glad."

"Thanks. I do feel better," Rin said, smiling back. "It's been a strange couple of years, you know?"

Kurenai smiled sympathetically and grabbed her hand. "I know. But I think he'd be proud of you, if he could see you now."

She didn't have to explain who she meant. They both knew.

Rin opened her mouth to reply, hoping she would be able to get some words past the lump in her throat, when she was hit by a sudden sharp stab of anxiety.

Not hers. Sanbi's.

 _Something's gone wrong_ , Sanbi said, no longer drowsy. _I can feel him – my brother is not himself_.

Rin froze.

 _Gone wrong how?_

 _I – I haven't felt a presence like this in decades,_ Sanbi replied _. I think – oh. I think my brother is going to have fun tonight_ , he finished, but he sounded hesitant.

Rin stood up abruptly, startling Kurenai and the others. Kakashi watched her intently, concern written all over his face. "Rin?"

"I – I just remembered something," Rin improvised. "I should – I have to go. Thank you for this, all of you. I had fun." Her smile was shaky and she could tell the others knew something was up, but only Kakashi could even come close to guessing what might be wrong. Before she could second-guess herself, she turned around and walked away. She could hear Kakashi getting up to follow her.

 _Talk to me. What you know? Is it something to do with Kushina-nee giving birth?_

A shiver ran down her spine, and somehow she knew it was Sanbi's anxiety again, not her own.

 _I've never had a female jinchuuriki before you so I can't be sure for_ , Sanbi said. _But yes – I think it might be related_. _We should stay the hell away_.

"If something is wrong with her –" Rin said out loud.

Kakashi caught her by the arm, bringing her back into the world. They were outside the restaurant now, in a quieter corner of the street. "Rin? What's going on?" He whispered. His eye looked completely black in the dim lighting.

"Sanbi is saying the birth is going wrong – he doesn't understand, and – and neither do I, but if Kushina-nee is in trouble –" she said, but she never got to finish her sentence.

Somewhere on the other side of the town, something _huge_ came into life. Its chakra was beyond anything she had ever felt, beyond even Sanbi, pressing down on her lungs and stomach and heart with tremendous force. Kakashi's breathing hitched and he watched her, wide-eyed. The thing's chakra pulsed, sending a shockwave through the village. Across the street, a pair of civilians fainted where they stood.

Chakra pressure. Killing intent. And then, the horrible roar – screech of a bijuu unleashed.

The streets turned to chaos. Civilians screamed and clotted around the few uniform wearing shinobi in the street, as though they would be able to protect them from whatever danger had just sprung into life. Others just plainly ran away, the instinctive fear so great that fleeing was all they could think about doing. Even the shinobi looked shaken – Kakashi's good hand shook minutely, where it still held on to her arm.

"Rin, that's _Kyuubi._ It's got to be – Minato sensei and Kushina –" he hissed, and released her to push up his headband. The Sharingan spun dangerously in the half-light as he turned it in the direction of the noise.

Not that he really needed to – there was a great noise, trees snapping like matchsticks, followed by a great billowing cloud of dust and smoke. Kyuubi roared again, and sent out another one of those horrible chakra pulses that made Rin feel weak in the knees.

Their friends had come streaming out of the restaurant, by now, their eyes wide with horror as Kyuubi's monstrous form slowly appeared out of the smoke and dust. His flaming red eyes _burned_ and it was all Rin could do to stand her ground _._

 _You shouldn't. You should run. We're not strong enough, not like this_ , Sanbi hissed at her, and for a moment his voice sounded so real that it was like he had whispered it into her ear.

But.

"We have to help," Kakashi said. It was as if his voice came from a great distance, and she couldn't process the words.

"Help? How can we –"

"I don't know. I don't care – we have to do something," he said, and started in the direction of the kyuubi.

She had no choice but to follow. What else could she do, after all they had been through together?

She thought briefly of her father, whose neighborhood late nowhere near where the demon was right now. If only he would be smart enough to evacuate.

It took longer than it should have to organize some kind of defense against the creature. It was evening, and most active-duty shinobi were either away or at home with their families. Those who did show up couldn't do much more than help civilians get away and douse flames. A group of Sarutobi sent a great torrent of flames towards Kyuubi, but the creature hardly seemed to feel it. It roared again and swung one of its massive arms down. The village's outer wall fell like it was nothing.

More people came streaming out of their houses and ran towards the Hokage mountain, where the tunnels might offer them some semblance of safety. There was no discipline, no order, no calm, only the absolute terror of people afraid to die.

Rin tried to stick close to Kakashi, but he was moving too quickly. People with larger bodies than her own blocked her path or bumped against her as she tried to move upstream. Up ahead, she saw Kakashi leap onto the roof to make better speed.

Just as she moved to follow him, a strong hand caught her around the wrist. "Don't even think about it," Uchiha Fukagu hissed, his Sharingan spinning furiously. "Or do you want to set a second bijuu loose on us?"

He pulled her away and out of the crowds into one of the little shops next to the street. "Now listen to me carefully. I understand you want to help, but as you are right now you would only make matters worse. I will knock you out myself if I have to, to keep you from going there," he said.

She looked over her shoulder – she couldn't see Kakashi anymore. She gritted her teeth. Fukagu was right, of course, but how on earth could she sit back and let her family fight all by themselves? If Kushina – Kushina was even alive, at this point. Or sensei. And what about the baby? "I – I have to do something –"

Fukagu grabbed her by both arms and shook her. "Right now, we only have a small chance of surviving this as it stands. Don't you dare lower those odds. You have no _right_ ," he hissed, and for the first time she had known him she could see fear in his eyes. He had two little boys and a wife, she remembered. She believed him. He would knock her out if he had to. Hell, right now, he would probably do worse if left with no other choice. And she couldn't really blame him for it, either.

The first buildings near the edge of town came crashing down. Where the hell was sensei? Why wasn't he defending them?

A small, slender figure darted across the roofs, his chakra blazing so strongly that he inevitably drew the attention of all shinobi around him. _Sandaime_ , all decked out in battle gear, fiercer than she had ever seen him. She could hardly hear his voice from this distance, but she could see him organizing the shinobi present into a more effective first line of defense.

Another row of houses came tumbling down but this time the attack was answered; torrents of fire and water speared towards Kyuubi, even as a great wall of dirt and dust rose up to serve as a new city wall.

Fukagu's hands tightened around her shoulders. His people would be out there as well, using their not inconsiderable powers to try and stop the demon. "Come on," he said, and dragged her with him and away from the danger.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Mikoto will take you, along with the children. It's better that way."

Rin almost bit her tongue. Her friends would be fighting, and all the while she would be hiding somewhere in between children and the elderly. She felt like a _disgrace_.

"You have no choice," Fukagu reminded her.

She didn't. She couldn't even go and help with the injured. Not without burning them, twisting their skin like she had Kakashi's. Injuries like those would kill civilians.

She certainly couldn't go out to fight, not when Sanbi would either join his brother in a rampage or destroy the village fighting him.

Head over heart.

Head over heart.

Head over –

The building next to them exploded in a shower of debris and splinters, throwing them both off their feet. A woman screamed, grasping uselessly at the place where her leg used to be. Rin scrambled to her feet and hobbled her way over. Her head spun and her legs felt like jelly, but it didn't matter, she had to do something –

the woman was still screaming when Rin dropped next to her and ripped off the woman's belt to use as a tourniquet. She pulled it as tight as it would go and tried to ignore the bloodied hand grasping at her arm as the woman panted out a litany of, "my leg, my leg, my leg."

Fukagu appeared out of nowhere, with a trickle of blood running down from his temple. "Keep moving," he growled, and pulled Rin back up on her feet.

"No, wait!"

"We can't afford to wait."

Kyuubi was steadily pushing Konoha's last line of defense back. The flames reached up to his knees, burning everything that hadn't already been destroyed.

"I can use my water jutsu, I can douse the flames," Rin said frantically, and where were her friends, where was Kakashi, where was her father –

"Breathe," Fukagu commanded, and her lungs burned when she finally did. She hadn't even realized she had been holding her breath.

 _Beautiful destruction_ , Sanbi whispered. _It's so beautiful._

Rin choked on a sob. _I hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,_ she thought.

Although she didn't know it, her eyes changed color.

"Breathe," Fukagu repeated, and met her eyes with his own.

She only had a moment to realize what he was planning, and then her vision went black.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **I'm so sorry. One chapter left, and it probably won't be what you expect. Let me know how you liked it (preferably without collectively lynching me)! Don't lynch Fugaku either, he's doing his best.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

Rin woke up to an overwhelming sense of urgency. Strong hands pushed her back down, and a soft voice said, "It's all right, you're okay. Please stay calm."

A baby cried, somewhere nearby, and Rin thought, _Kushina_. When she opened her eyes, though, it wasn't Kushina's gray eyes that looked back at her – these were a deep, inky black, like Obito's had been.

"It's okay," Mikoto said again, brushing a hand over Rin's cheek but glancing over her shoulder at the baby. It was her baby, not Kushina's. Her eldest boy held him close to his chest, looking pale and worried.

Slowly, Rin's memory started to return to her.

Fugaku had kept his promise. He had knocked her out, and left her with his family for safekeeping. Away from the kyuubi, and away from her friends.

"How – what happened? Please, I have to know –"

"Breathe," Mikoto said. "Deep breaths."

Rin gasped in some air, willing herself to calm down. It didn't do much to alleviate her state of mind, but if she could at least convince Mikoto she was calm... She eyed the children. Mikoto wouldn't want her around them if she thought Rin would pose a risk.

She looked around. They were sitting in a dark room, lit only by a torch just beside the dark entrance. It was cool, and the walls were rough and uneven. The evacuation tunnels. It had to be.

"What's happening? Is the village still under attack?" Rin asked. She couldn't hear anything, outside. She heard only the baby, and further away, the restless murmur of the other villagers.

Mikoto frowned. "From what I understand, the demon vanished into thin air an hour ago. They say the Hokage finally appeared and took it elsewhere. I haven't heard anything since then. They asked us to stay in here just a little bit longer."

Rin bit her lip and stood up. _Minato sensei_. She felt a little dizzy, but otherwise all right. She couldn't hear Sanbi. The Sharingan really was amazing. "I can't stay here."

Mikoto's expression softened. "I thought you might say that."

"I – Kushina-nee is –" Rin said defensively, before she could catch herself. But she was so worried, it was hard to think of anything else.

The chances of Kushina even being alive – her breath hitched.

"I _know_ ," Mikoto said. "Trust me, I do." Her eyes were soft with worry and her voice genuine. She was truly Kushina's friend, then perhaps she already knew the source of Rin's concerns.

"Things have gone quiet outside. I will go and look going on and – and whether everyone is okay. If I think it's dangerous, I promise I'll come back," Rin said, although it was a difficult promise to make. Could she really do it, if pressed? Could she place the needs of the many above those of her loved ones?

Yes. If there was no other way – yes.

Mikoto held her gaze for a moment before nodding. "I trust you," she said. "Don't let me down."

The halls outside their little chamber were dark and damp, and filled with people. Occasionally Rin passed through a larger chamber or past rooms like the one Mikoto and her family stayed in, but most people had to make do with whatever space they could find. She spotted a few familiar faces, but although she allowed her gaze to linger long enough to check for injuries, she couldn't afford to stay and say hello.

There was no time.

The only shinobi in the caves were genin and young chunin like herself, as far she could tell. Have they been sent back, away from danger? If so, what had become of their active shinobi force? How many of them would still be alive?

The closer she came to the cave's entrance, the more injured people she saw. Thin-lipped medics passed her by, each of them pale and exhausted. Some of their patients whimpered softly. One man was crying like a child, although he looked injured. What had he lost?

Rin's heart pounded in her throat. This was her nightmare come to life. This was what she had almost died to prevent, five months ago. _I failed_. _Please forgive me_.

"Rin? Rin, is that really you?" A voice croaked and oh, she knew that voice, had known it all her life, and still loved it, despite herself.

She stopped. She could feel the fresh air from outside on her face and it would be so easy to just keep walking.

But how could she walk away from her own father?

She turned around and spotted him in the crowds, sagging against one of the stone walls. There was blood in his dark hair and he was paler than she had ever seen him. "Is that my girl?" He asked, and reached out with one bloodied hand.

His left hand was gone, leaving only a neatly bandaged stump.

"The – the house collapsed," he offered, catching her eyes. Sweat beaded on his forehead. "I was trapped underneath – they took it off." He sounded a little surprised.

Rin kneeled next to him to take his pulse, all the while trying desperately not to _feel_. His heart beat strong. The stump didn't seem to be bleeding, so whoever had treated him had done a good job. He would live.

"My girl," he said again, and brushed her bangs away from her face. "This wasn't you, was it?"

Rin froze. Her father's hand was warm against her cheek, and he still smelled of fresh bread and home, just as he always had. The milky blue eyes she had always so loved were feverish and seemed to glide past her when he tried to focus.

He was burning up with fever.

"Was it you? Oh – if it was, if it was," he moaned, and buried his face in his remaining hand.

"Dad," Rin said, very quietly. "It wasn't me."

He moaned again. "But it could have been!"

Rin surged forward and put a finger to his lips. "You are ailing. You should rest," she said. Her voice trembled.

She still loved him, probably always would, but she didn't think she knew this man who could accuse her of leveling a village and simultaneously very nearly out her greatest secret amidst strangers. This man who kept pushing her away.

She didn't know this man at all.

He nodded a few times, like a child, and leaned against his neighbor. "Yes, yes, you're right. I should sleep. My daughter is so smart. Isn't she smart?" He moaned again. "But she can't live with me, no. No, it's not right. My baby girl." He buried his face in the neighbor's shoulder, who accepted it with a resigned sigh and a shrug for Rin.

At least no one took the words of an ailing man seriously.

Rin felt heavy when she turned away and left the cave. She did what she always did when her heart was rent in two: she persevered. She would hold all feeling inside until she found herself somewhere where she could let it burst out and think of disappointing fathers and threatened mothers and missing friends. Not yet, though. Not yet.

She kept moving.

Most of Konoha was still standing, but nearly every building had taken some form of damage. The windows had burst everywhere and many of the doors had been pulled from their hinges as if people had torn them out trying to escape. The only people still in the streets were dead.

The closer to the gate she came, the worse the damage. Many of the houses had been leveled completely, as if they had never existed at all, and others had collapsed under the strain. Like her childhood home had. There were a couple of shinobi, at least, grimy and shell-shocked but _alive_. When she asked, none of them had seen Kakashi, Minato or Kushina.

A second group pointed her in the direction of the jounin commander – a young Nara who had received a field promotion when his predecessor met the business end of Kyuubi's claws – who recognized her as the Hokage's pupil and indulged her enough to take her along with him into the forest outside the village.

"Hokage-sama used his Hiraishin to take the beast out of the village, so they could fight without obstruction. It took us a while to locate them, but..." He trailed off. "Nohara-kun, there is no good way to tell you this –"

"Nohara Rin, isn't it?" Said a small, slender figure as it stepped out of the shadows. The Sandaime Hokage looked older tonight than he ever had before. He sighed deeply, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take it from here, Shikaku-kun. Go home, to your family."

Sandaime led Rin through the forest with a gentleness that reminded her he was Asuma's dad first, Hokage second. His hand was warm on her shoulder. His eyes were red. "Rin-san, it will not surprise you to learn I know of your situation," he said, when they were out of earshot of his guards. "Therefore I understand exactly how personal all of this must feel to you. However, I must ask you to remain composed as well as you can. You have been very brave, but you're going to have to be brave for a lot longer."

There was a clearing up ahead. Rin saw a familiar silver-haired figure sitting on the ground, his head very nearly between his knees. Her heart sank.

"Are they dead?" She asked, her voice small.

Sandaime's hands tightened on her shoulder and he stopped walking. She had no choice but to join him.

"You, better than anyone, know what it is like to be a jinchuuriki. What you do not know is the strain that something as biologically complicated as a pregnancy puts on chakra seals," he began slowly. "An unknown assailant did know, and he... Abused this knowledge. He attacked Minato and Kushina while she was giving birth, and the kyuubi was set loose."

"They're dead, aren't they?" Rin whispered again, and she could feel it building up inside for now, that overwhelming chaos of pain and regret and anger and grief she hadn't felt since Obito.

"Kushina hails from the Uzumaki clan, which means she clings to life with a strength unlike any other. Minato saw fit to seal part of the Kyuubi back inside her, which... Should at least give her a chance," Sandaime said.

Rin's breath shuddered.

"And the rest of Kyuubi?"

"Their child. I suppose there was no other way."

The child. Naruto. The baby they had so looked forward to welcoming into their family.

"Is he okay? The baby?"

"... Yes. As much as he can be."

"What about sensei?" Rin forced herself to say.

Sandaime seemed to grow smaller where he stood, his shoulders stooping forward. "The sealing technique he used required the greatest sacrifice," he said simply.

Rin shook off his hand and moved past him towards Kakashi on automatic pilot. She felt so _tired_.

Minato sensei was still in the clearing where he had died, a lone figure lying spread-eagled on the ground, his blue eyes staring up at the sky above him. His coat was ripped and torn away from his body. For some reason, it bothered Rin that no one had put it around him properly. Kushina was further away, surrounded by medics. One of them held a mewling baby.

"I was too late," Kakashi muttered. "I'm always too late."

Rin sank down to the ground next to him, instinctively leaning into his warmth. His chakra felt strange, from this close – like it was roiling inside of him, threatening to boil over. "Kakashi –" she began, concerned.

He looked up. Obito's Sharingan glowed in the dark, shining with an unfamiliar geometrical pattern unlike anything she had seen before. He was crying.

"Kushina-nee isn't moving," Rin observed numbly.

"Coma. One of the medics said. They thought I wasn't listening," Kakashi said.

Rin nodded, not really surprised. If the world had seen fit to tear life as she knew it apart every other year, it might as well try its hardest.

"What happened? To you? I lost you in the crowds," she asked instead.

Kakashi shrugged and turned his face back to his knees. He squeezed his eyes shut. "I couldn't find them. Then Yuuhi-san tried to send me back, Kurenai's dad, but the Kyuubi killed him –" Rin's heart constricted, "– and everything went a bit hazy after that. Minato sensei appeared in the distance but I couldn't reach him in time before they both vanished. I had to summon the dogs to track them down, but by then –"

He made himself even smaller. "I got here just in time to see him collapse."

Because that made sense too, in the worst sort of way: where Rin lost people whenever she looked away for just a little bit too long, Kakashi always had to watch them die.

The universe was a cruel bitch.

She pressed herself closer up to him, not caring who would see or what he would think. He was warm and breathing and _alive_ , so it made sense to get as close to him as she could. She became slowly aware that she was crying. That made sense too.

"What do we do now?" She asked. She felt terribly small.

"I don't know," he said. "I just don't know."

* * *

Rin was the first to move, of course. She was the one to approach the medics holding the baby and find Naruto still covered in his mother's blood. She was the one to scoot over to Kushina and find a faint, thready pulse. She was the one they told that Kushina was in a vegetative state she might never wake up from. That she would have been dead already, if not for her clan blood.

The baby's name was Naruto. Kushina had told them during the dinner two days ago, when they had all been so happy and optimistic. Naruto wouldn't stop crying, and blinked up at Rin with wild blue eyes when she was finally allowed to hold him. In the end it was Sandaime who carefully pried the baby loose from her grasp and told her it would be okay.

The third Hokage tried to comfort them, because he liked to think of himself as a good man. He was, in some ways. He also wasn't, in others. If he took up the reins again, Konoha would remain the same.

Jiraiya wasn't there to hold his godson and do his duty. Tsunade wasn't there to wake Kushina from her coma.

No one was there to tell Kakashi and Rin to go home, whatever was left of it, instead of waiting and waiting until someone picked up Minato's body. In the end it was Anko who had been sent to collect them, her own face tear-streaked.

The apartment was still standing, against all odds. Rin didn't really want to go inside. She didn't really want to go anywhere. It didn't feel real. None of it did.

Kakashi still hadn't said a word. He'd seen –

Minato.

Minato sensei was dead.

"Minato sensei is dead," Rin said, because perhaps saying it would wake her up from this nightmare.

It didn't. It just made her breath catch in her throat and an intense pain spring up in her chest. Kakashi made a strange, strangled sound and marched into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"I need to go home, " Anko said softly. "My mom –"

Rin nodded, and waited until she could no longer hear Anko. Then she went and opened Kakashi's bedroom door. She stepped in and closed it behind her.

Kakashi lay curled up on the bed, his back towards her. She could hear his breath shudder.

Minato was dead. Kushina might never wake up again. That crying boy on the bed right there was the only remnant of team Minato Rin had left. Him and the baby, a brand-new jinchuuriki already secreted away by people who were not his parents.

They wouldn't grow, from this. They wouldn't learn. This just _hurt_.

Rin's knees gave out. Somehow, she landed on the bed. A hand reached out and grabbed hers, trembling.

So they lay there curled up together, clinging to each other like they were the last people on earth- and in a way they were. The two brightest stars in their firmament had died, and left behind only three grieving children.

For once, Sanbi was silent.

* * *

TBC.

* * *

 **AN:**

 ***Hands you tissues***

 **So, that was the end of part one of Regeneration. Part one, you say? Does that mean there are going to be sequels? Well – yes and no. I definitely have plans for this universe because I can't leave the kids hanging like this, can I?**

 **Lil' summary of the next installment:**

 _ **With Minato gone and Kushina's fate still uncertain, Kakashi and Rin navigate new responsibilities in the form of an infant jinchuuriki who has no one else to depend on, dangerous new enemies, and disturbing new powers.**_

 __ **my readers: I'm considering moving to AO3 permanently rather than cross-posting, as the uploading system is a lot kinder. Consider subscribing to me there! ( Hiiraeth)**

* * *

 **Couple of notes on the conclusion:**

 **\- I figure if Obito can unlock Mangekyou by watching Rin die, Kakashi can unlock it by watching Minato die.**

 **\- Kushina survived extracting kyuubi. I've never understood why Minato didn't try to save her life by sealing it back in. I'm sure there's some obscure bit of trivia that explains it, but I like this better.**

 **\- Madara did indeed transfer his consciousness into Obito's body. How? Err... He's an evil genius? (And this makes much more sense for Obito as a character!)**

 **-The reason Sandaime didn't think to bring the children back home is because aside from the chaos wrecked upon his village, he also just lost his wife and doesn't yet know what became of his own children. I think he deserves a break for that.**

 **Let me know what you think!**


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